(WO) — The Bureau of Security and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has activated its Hurricane Response Workforce and is monitoring offshore oil and fuel operators within the Gulf of Mexico as they proceed their response to Hurricane Helene.
Based mostly on knowledge from offshore operator experiences submitted as of 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sep. 29, personnel have been evacuated from a complete of three manufacturing platforms, 0.81% of the 371 manned platforms within the Gulf of Mexico.
No personnel have been evacuated from any of the 5 non-dynamically positioned (DP) rig(s), at the moment working within the Gulf. Rigs can embody a number of kinds of offshore drilling amenities together with jackup rigs, platform rigs, all submersibles, and moored semisubmersibles.
A complete of 1 DP rig moved off location out of the storm’s path as a precaution. This quantity represents 4.76% of the 21 DP rigs at the moment working within the Gulf. DP rigs keep their location whereas conducting effectively operations through the use of thrusters and propellers; these rigs aren’t moored to the seafloor, to allow them to transfer out of hurt’s method in a comparatively brief time-frame. Personnel stay on board and return to the unique location as soon as the storm has handed.
As a part of the evacuation course of, personnel activate the relevant shut-in process, which might often be achieved from a distant location. This entails closing security valves situated beneath the floor of the ocean ground to forestall the discharge of oil or fuel, successfully shutting in manufacturing from wells within the Gulf and defending the marine and coastal environments. Shutting in oil and fuel manufacturing is a regular process performed by business for security and environmental causes.
From operator experiences, BSEE estimates that roughly 3.35% of the present oil manufacturing and 0.91% of the present pure fuel manufacturing within the Gulf of Mexico is shut-in.
Now that the storm has handed, amenities will likely be inspected. As soon as all normal checks have been accomplished, manufacturing from undamaged amenities will likely be introduced again on-line instantly. Services sustaining injury could take longer to deliver again on-line.