With Isaac’s arrival on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast more than a week behind it, the oil and gas industry continues to ramp up production at facilities that were closed in anticipation of the Category 1 hurricane.

Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 a.m. CDT Friday, BSEE estimated that about 19.43% (847.27 MMcf/d) of current daily natural gas production, and 36.35% (501,683 b/d) of daily oil output in the GOM was shut in. Both numbers were down from Thursday, when the BSEE said 21.28% (957.81 MMcf/d) of natural gas production and 42.98% (593,090 b/d) of oil output was shut in (see Daily GPI, Sept. 7), and were dramatically lower than the Aug. 30 peak of 75.52% (3.264 Bcf/d) and 94.99% (1.311 million b/d) (see Daily GPI, Aug. 31).

Workers continued to return Friday to production platforms that were evacuated as Isaac approached the GOM. BSEE said personnel remained evacuated Friday from six of the 596 manned production platforms, equivalent to 1.01% of the total platforms in the GOM. Personnel also remained evacuated from one of the 76 rigs in the GOM, BSEE said. Those numbers peaked Aug. 30 at 509 production platforms and 50 rigs evacuated.

Chevron on Friday said it had redeployed personnel to its offshore facilities in the GOM and was in the process of restoring production that was shut in.

“The Pascagoula refinery continues to operate at a reduced rate,” Chevron said. “The shipping channel, which provides access to the refinery for incoming vessels carrying crude oil and outgoing vessels transporting products, has reopened with restrictions. We are repairing damage to some of our product storage tanks caused by the storm as we work toward resuming normal operations.”

Crosstex Energy LP said Friday morning that its assets in southern Louisiana sustained no physical damage due to Hurricane Isaac. The partnership’s facilities along the Gulf Coast, which include six natural gas processing plants and three natural gas liquids fractionation plants, “are operational and were off-line only for a few days due to the storm,” Crosstex said.

An area of low pressure over the north-central GOM, which earlier in the week had threatened to escalate into a tropical cyclone, was producing disorganized cloudiness and a few squalls on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The system had only a 20% change of becoming a tropical cyclone over the weekend, NHC said.

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