Chevron is evacuating workers from all its platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as meteorologists warn of a tropical storm approaching the area.
For now, Chevron is only evacuating non-essential personnel, Reuters reported, saying that oil production at the facilities remains normal. Some analysts, however, see the storm warning as a further complication for already jittery oil markets.
Shell is also evacuating non-essential personnel from six offshore platforms, CNN reported, and so is BP, in anticipation of the storm’s approach. The report cited data suggesting the storm could reach the Gulf Coast by Friday by which time it could have grown into a Category 2 hurricane.
The storm was an “unwelcome complication for crude, raising the prospect of production and refining disruptions at a time when the market already has enough supply-side headaches,” said KCM Trade’s chief analyst Tim Waterer, as quoted by Reuters. The publication noted that if the storm lives up to forecasts, it could affect the operations of as many as six Gulf Coast refineries.
Gulf Coast refineries represent half of the United States’ national refining capacity, or 14.1 million barrels daily. If the storm leads to refinery closures, they would come at the worst possible moment, as the global fuel crunch becomes increasingly severe.
Platforms in the Gulf, for their part, account for 15% of the country’s crude oil production and 5% of natural gas production.
Weather forecasts say that the tropical storm could become the first hurricane of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which has been a lot quieter than the seasons of previous years. That’s despite grim warnings of multiple and increasingly severe hurricanes that were blamed on climate change driving more frequent extreme weather.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted a below-normal hurricane season for this year, to be fair, and it has turned out to be right.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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