Storms

An offshore oil and natural gas complex in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is likely to be offline for repairs for months because of damage inflicted by Hurricane Ida, Royal Dutch Shell plc said Monday. A “comprehensive damage assessment” was conducted by Shell Offshore Inc. following Ida, which stormed through the GOM at the…

Florida’s electric utilities are better prepared for the tropical storms and hurricanes that bear down on the state than they ever have been, according to an assessment by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC).

The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins June 1, is likely to have normal to slightly above-normal activity, and could have an early start in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), forecasters at AccuWeather’s Global Weather Center said Monday.

A potential El Nino event — warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator — is likely to limit the production of tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean this year, resulting in below-average hurricane activity, according to a pair of prominent weather forecasters.

An area of colder-than-normal ocean water east of Newfoundland could throw a curve ball into the forecast, but AccuWeather forecasters believe the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season could be more active than usual, with a total of 14 named storms, eight of them hurricanes, including four major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher).

The first half of the 2014 Atlantic Hurricane season has produced only three named storms — none of them having any significant impact on the U.S. energy industry — and forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI) don’t expect the second half to be much worse.

The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to produce fewer than the average number of tropical storms and hurricanes, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com, who said tropical development could be altered by the onset of an El Nino even in late summer of fall.

A relatively quiet 2013 Atlantic hurricane season and no sign of tropical activity on the horizon has prompted Weather Services International (WSI) to make a significant reduction to its tropical forecast. WSI forecasters said they now expect 15 named storms to form in the Atlantic Basin, including five hurricanes, one of them major (Category 3 or higher).

Three storms in March failed to deter oil and natural gas operations in North Dakota, which set new all-time highs for the month, according to the latest statistics from the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).