飓风“德尔塔”致使墨西哥湾92%的产量停产

据10月9日Offshore Energy消息：美国安全和环境执法局(BSEE)表示，由于飓风“德尔塔”的影响，目前墨西哥湾超过90%的石油生产已经关闭。

BSEE在其最新报告中称，墨西哥湾643个载人平台中的279个平台的人员已经撤离。

人员已从7个非动态定位钻井平台撤离，相当于目前在墨西哥湾运行的10个此类钻井平台的70%。作为一项预防措施，总共有15个动态定位的钻井平台已经撤离了飓风的预计路径。这一数字占17个动态定位钻机的88.24%。

根据运营商的报告，BSEE估计，墨西哥湾大约61.82%的天然气产量已被关闭。

在石油方面，飓风“德尔塔”已导致海湾地区石油日产量减少167万桶，占该地区石油产量的92%，是自2005年卡特里娜飓风摧毁了100多个海上平台并使产量停滞数月以来的最大降幅。

此次涉及关闭位于海床表面以下的水下安全阀，以防止石油或天然气的泄露，有效关闭海湾油井的生产，以保护海洋和沿海环境。

出于安全和环保考虑，关闭油气生产是该行业的标准程序。

从6月份的热带风暴克里斯托瓦尔开始，今年已经有六场风暴影响了美国近海石油和天然气业务。而美国页岩油产量能够减轻飓风关闭对市场的影响。

冯娟 摘译自 Offshore Energy

原文如下：

Hurricane Delta closes 92 pct of Gulf of Mexico oil output – largest in 15 years

Over 90 per cent of current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in as a result of Hurricane Delta, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said.

The BSEE said in its latest report that personnel was evacuated from 279 of the 643 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Personnel have been evacuated from seven non-dynamically positioned rigs, equivalent to 70 per cent of the 10 rigs of this type currently operating in the Gulf. A total of 15 dynamically positioned rigs have moved off location out of the hurricane’s projected path as a precaution. This number represents 88.24 per cent of the 17 dynamically positioned rigs.

From operator reports, BSEE estimates that approximately 61.82 per cent of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in.

As for oil, Hurricane Delta has shut 1.67 million barrels per day, or 92 per cent of the Gulf’s oil output, the most since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than 100 offshore platforms and hobbled output for months.

This involves closing the sub-surface safety valves located below the surface of the ocean floor to prevent the release of oil or gas, effectively shutting in production from wells in the Gulf and protecting the marine and coastal environments.

Shutting-in oil and gas production is a standard procedure conducted by the industry for safety and environmental reasons.

Hurricane Delta is the 25th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season and is sustaining wings of 225 kilometres per hour. It is a dangerous Category 4 storm which arrived from the Caribbean, went across Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, and enter the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

It is worth noting that there have been six storms starting with Tropical Storm Cristobal in June that have affected U.S. offshore oil and gas operations this year. The U.S. shale oil output was able to mitigate the market impact of hurricane shut-ins.

According to an NOAA statement from Thursday, Hurricane Delta has been characterised as a “life-threatening storm surge”.