Expected to make landfall today, Delta is expected to remain at or near a Category 3 and will bring 4–11-ft storm surges to the coast of Louisiana. The US National Hurricane Center said this morning it was approaching the coast at 115 mph 130 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana, and was heading north at 13 mph.
Operators have shut in about 1.70 million B/D of oil production and nearly 1.70 Bcf/D of natural gas. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production capacity is about t 1.9 million B/D.
On Thursday, BSEE reported that in advance of Delta’s approach operators had evacuated personnel from 273 production platforms (42%) of manned platforms and seven nondynamically positioned rigs (70%). Fifteen dynamically positioned rigs (88%) had been moved off location out of the hurricane’s path.
Chevron had evacuated personnel from all their platforms and shut in the facilities as of Wednesday. Shell also evacuated its personnel from their nine platforms and shut in production. BP, BHP, Occidental Petroleum, Equinor, WT Offshore, and Murphy Oil also evacuated personnel.
Refineries, export ports, and LNG facilities were also preparing for the storm’s approach. Cameron LNG shut its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Louisiana on Thursday and Cheniere Energy LNG reduced its natural gas flow to its Sabine Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana. No refineries had been shut down as of Thursday as operators continued to monitor Delta’s approach.
Exports and imports were ceased at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the sole deepwater port on the Gulf of Mexico.