Chevron closes US Gulf platform to prepare for tropical storm

Chevron has shut down production at its Petronius facility in the Gulf of Mexico and is moving all personnel onshore to prepare for Tropical Depression Two. The company announced this in a Monday statement. The U.S. major oil company also announced that it was transporting non-essential personnel from its Blind Faith and Tubular Bells platforms.

The statement stated that "production from other Chevron Gulf of America assets remains at normal levels." The depression may strengthen into Tropical Storm Bertha by Monday evening. The ?National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch that is in effect from the Ochlockonee River in Florida westward to ?the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish border in Louisiana, and gradual strengthening is expected over the next two days. The NHC said that the storm system will bring 2 to 4 inches of rain -- with some isolated totals as high as 8 inches (20 cm) -- along the Gulf Coast through Friday, from the Middle Texas Coast to?western Florida. According to Earth Science Associates, the model forecast predicts that 2 million barrels could be lost in the U.S. Gulf during the storm's duration. This is a significant increase over the 10,000 barrels affected by Tropical Storm Arthur, which hit the Gulf last month. The company stated by email that there are more oil platforms with higher production in the path of Tropical Depression Two. Shell, BP,?Chevron, and Occidental Petroleum were among the biggest deepwater operators in the U.S. Gulf of America federal off-shore region, which produced almost 2 million barrels of oil per 'day' in March. This accounted for approximately 14% of U.S. total crude production. Around half of the total U.S. refining capacity is located in the region's refinery corridor. It runs from Corpus Christi (Texas) to Pascagoula (Mississippi). The refining capacity is 18.4 million barrels a day. CenterPoint Energy, a U.S. utility, announced on Monday that it activated its Emergency Operations Center and took a number of steps to prepare for this storm. CenterPoint Resilience Vice President Nathan Brownell stated that the storm is expected to hit Greater Houston by Friday. If any weather-related power outages happen, our crews will be prepared to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. Reporting by Anjana Anil and Sheila Dang, both in Bengaluru; editing by Chris Reese and Nathan Crooks.

(source: Reuters)