Shell said it temporarily shut in production at its Perdido platform in the US Gulf of Mexico, following a subsurface leak in ExxonMobil’s 100,000 B/D Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System (HOOPS).
“Without access to that pipeline system, and with no other alternatives in the available supply chain system, Perdido has been forced to ramp down,” Shell said.
ExxonMobil temporarily shut in production at HOOPS after it reported the release of crude oil at the DOE facility in Freeport, Texas, on 7 April. A company spokesperson for ExxonMobil said all appropriate government agencies and shippers were notified and it anticipates resuming flow, but did not provide a timeframe.
ExxonMobil also shut in the Hoover platform.
HOOPS includes a 153-mile common-carrier pipeline system from the Hoover deep-draft caisson vessel to Quintana Terminal, just south of Freeport. HOOPS also connects the Hoover, Marshall, and Madison offshore fields.