With the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season officially kicking off last Thursday, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) on Monday released its “final report” on Gulf of Mexico gas and oil production shut-ins related to the damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the 2005 hurricane season.

“In the last month there has been substantial improvement in the production numbers warranting another release so a decision was made to issue a final report after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” the MMS said. The data for the report was collected to reflect information through June 1.

The government agency reported that 71 platforms remain evacuated, which represents 8.67% of the 819 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. None of the 134 rigs currently operating in the Gulf are still evacuated.

As of June 1, shut-in natural gas production still stood at 1.099 Bcf/d, which is equivalent to 10.99% of the daily gas production in the Gulf (10 Bcf/d). From Aug. 26, 2005 to June 1, 2006, the Gulf has lost 784.5 Bcf of production because of the storms. That is equivalent to 21.5% of the Gulf’s annual production of 3.65 Tcf.

As of June 1, shut-in oil production still stood at 227,888 b/d, which is equivalent to 15.19% of the daily oil production in the Gulf (1.5 million b/d). The cumulative shut-in oil production from Aug. 26, 2005 to June 1, 2006 is 162.4 million bbls, which is equivalent to 29.67% of the annual production of oil in the Gulf (547.5 million bbl).

“Shut-ins for oil and gas production are standard procedures conducted by industry for safety reasons,” the MMS said. “Once facilities have been inspected and all standard checks have been completed the production for these facilities will be brought back online.”

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