MMS: 24.74% Of Gulf Oil Production Shut-in Due To Storm

30th Jun 2010 01:33

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--About 24.74% of oil production and about 9.38% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in due to Tropical Storm Alex, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement said Tuesday. Estimated energy production from the Gulf of Mexico as of March 2010 is 1.6 million barrels of oil per day and 6.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, the Bureau said in a press release. Personnel from a total of 28 production platforms, equivalent to 4.4% of the 634 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, have been evacuated so far due to the threat of Alex, which is expected to become a hurricane latter in the day and was heading towards the Mexico-Texas border. The storm could make landfall late Wednesday. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement is the new name for the U.S. Department of the Interior's Mineral Management Service, or MMS. The Bureau said personnel from three rigs have also been evacuated; or the equivalent to 5.9% of the 51 rigs currently operating in the Gulf. Neither the drilling rigs nor the containment vessels involved in the BP (BP, BP.LN) oil spill response have been required to evacuate or halt operations, the press released said. -By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713.547.9207; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 29, 2010 20:33 ET (00:33 GMT)