Nearly 60 Bcf of natural gas and 10 million barrels of oil have been unavailable from the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for U.S. consumption because of shut-ins due to Hurricanes Isidore and Lili, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) said Thursday.

Isidore took about 60% of natural gas production and 95% of crude oil off the market from Wednesday, Sept. 25 through Friday, Sept. 27. “As production was being returned over the weekend, the threat of Hurricane Lili curtailed the full resumption of production,” and on Monday, the 27th, shut-ins began anew.

The MMS said its latest reports are that 95% of oil and 75% of natural gas production remain shut in, and the shut-ins likely will continue through Friday. On Thursday 769 platforms and 100 drilling rigs had been evacuated and more than 9.7 Bcf of gas was shut in. The MMS’ New Orleans District showed 3.9 Bcf shut in, while the Houma District was down more than 2 Bcf; Lafayette 1.5 Bcf; Lake Charles and Lake Jackson approximately 1.2 Bcf each.

“With over 4,000 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico operating on a 24-hour basis, storm events, such as Isidore and Lili, disrupt a significant sector of the domestic energy supply.” MMS pointed to companies’ detailed evacuation plans for such events. “People often don’t realize that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 workers offshore at any one time,” said MMS Director Johnnie Burton. “The logistics of evacuating that many people and shutting down 25% of the nation’s oil and natural gas production are very complicated,” she added.

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