US Gulf oil shut-ins drop as Helene nears landfall

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Natural gas
26/09/24

US Gulf of Mexico oil production shut-in levels fell today as Hurricane Helene bore down on Florida's west coast as a category 3 storm, bringing the threat of dangerous storm surge and winds.

Around 441,923 b/d of US offshore oil output, or 25pc, was off line as of 12:30pm ET, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). That is down from 29pc on Wednesday as the eastern Gulf path of the storm took it farther away from most offshore production facilities. About 363.39mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 20pc of the region's output, was also off line today, up from 17pc on Wednesday. Operators have evacuated workers from 27 offshore platforms.

Helene was last about 145 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida, packing maximum winds of 120mph, according to a 4pm ET advisory from the US National Hurricane Center. Further intensification is likely and Helene could approach the coast at category 4 strength, with winds of at least 130mph.

Landfall is expected near Port Leon on Apalachee Bay Thursday evening before Helene is forecast to turn northwestward and slow down over the Tennessee Valley on Friday and into the weekend.

Earlier this week, offshore operators including BP, Equinor and Chevron took the precaution of suspending some operations and evacuating workers from offshore facilities in advance of the hurricane. Some facilities have since started back up as the hurricane's track shifted away from the main oil and gas hub in the region.

By Stephen Cunningham

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

14/05/25

Mauritania weaves GTA project into industrial strategy

Paris, 14 May (Argus) — Offshore gas production could help to meet Mauritania's power demand by 2030 while also supporting mining activity, particularly of iron ore, energy minister Mohammed Ould Khaled told the Invest in African Energy forum today. BP last month loaded the first LNG shipment from its 2.7mn t/yr Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) joint venture in Mauritanian and Senegalese waters. GTA is export-oriented, but Mauritania could still tap the project for power, Khaled said, although he added that infrastructure would need to be built to facilitate this. A tender to build a power plant fired by GTA gas will be launched in the next couple of weeks, he said. Mauritania wants to become a regional power hub within 20 years, Khaled said, and hopes to see construction of a power link "to the north" — in the direction of Western Sahara/Morocco. The Mauritanian power grid is already connected to Senegal and Mali, he said. Future power generation projects will be funded by the private sector and incentivised through tax breaks, Khaled said, with 550MW set to become available to the domestic market through private-sector projects over the next couple of years. Mauritania is also looking for partners to develop the 50 trillion-60 trillion ft³ Bir Allah gas field for export and domestic markets. The area lies 50km north of GTA and exclusively in Mauritanian waters, according to Khaled, with two wells already having been sunk. Bir Allah is "three times bigger than GTA", he said. BP and Kosmos Energy signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement for the site in late 2022 , with BP saying gas from the field will be used to expand GTA to 10mn t/yr. It is unclear whether BP or Kosmos Energy are still partners in the Bir Allah development project. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Opec downgrades non-Opec+ supply growth forecasts

14/05/25

Opec downgrades non-Opec+ supply growth forecasts

London, 14 May (Argus) — Opec has downgraded its 2025 and 2026 non-Opec+ liquids supply growth forecasts for a second month in a row, mainly driven by lower output expectations from the US. In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), published today, Opec revised down by 100,000 b/d its non-Opec supply growth forecasts for 2025 and 2026 to 810,000 b/d and 800,000 b/d, respectively. This follows identical downgrades of 100,000 b/d for each year in Opec's previous report . While Opec did not give a reason for its supply revisions, the recent decline in oil prices is likely to have played a role. Production growth in the US, particularly in the shale patch, is highly sensitive to price movements, for example. US shale producer Diamondback Energy chief executive Travis Stice earlier this month said US onshore crude production had likely peaked as drilling activity slowed in response to lower oil prices. Opec sees US supply growing by 330,000 b/d in 2025 and 280,000 b/d in 2026, compared with 450,000 b/d and 460,000 b/d in its March MOMR. Lower non-Opec+ supply expectations may have played a role in the decision by some Opec+ members to accelerate their planned supply increases for May and June. Opec kept its global oil demand growth forecasts unchanged for this year and next at 1.3mn b/d and 1.28mn b/d, respectively. These forecasts remain bullish compared to those of the IEA and US' EIA. Opec+ crude production — including Mexico — fell by 106,000 b/d to 40.92mn b/d in April, according to an average of secondary sources that includes Argus . Opec puts the call on Opec+ crude at 42.6mn b/d in 2025 and 42.9mn b/d in 2026. By Aydin Calik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Sierra Leone plans upstream licensing round in 2025

14/05/25

Sierra Leone plans upstream licensing round in 2025

Lagos, 14 May (Argus) — Sierra Leone will launch an upstream licensing round by October, as part of efforts to start producing crude within two to three years. The west African country is "on the cusp of producing", according to upstream regulator PDSL's director general Foday Mansaray, with the government putting measures in place to make offshore investments attractive. "Once all the de-risking of the basin happens, we'll be in a position to launch a licensing round," Mansaray said at the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris. Sierra Leone's most recent licensing round, held in 2023, resulted in six blocks awarded to FA Oil, which is part of a Nigerian conglomerate that owns a non-operated stake in Nigeria's Agbami oil block. PDSL has approached BP and Chevron, separately, in the past five months to gauge their interest in negotiating for oil blocks directly, offering a 10pc royalty rate, 25pc company income tax rate, a petroleum tax that applies only when realised crude prices are above $60/bl and several other fiscal terms. But Sierra Leonean acreage is lightly explored, with only eight wells drilled since exploratory work started in the 1980s. A spate of exploration activity between 2003–13 resulted in the Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Savannah discoveries, but none proceeded to commercial development. "We are hoping this time next year that we can announce Sierra Leone will be drilling its first well since 2012," Mansaray said. PDSL previously told Argus it has 140,000km² of offshore open acreage available with 50,000km² of that categorised as "best prospective" and 15,000km² as "highly prospective". The country is likely to offer 55,000km² in this year's licensing round. By Adebiyi Olusolape and George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project

14/05/25

Aramco eyes stake in Australia's Louisiana LNG project

Sydney, 14 May (Argus) — Australian independent Woodside and Saudi state-owned oil firm Aramco have entered into an agreement for Aramco to possibly buy a stake in Woodside's 16.5mn t/yr Louisiana LNG project and to explore other opportunities, including lower-carbon ammonia. As part of the non-binding agreement, Aramco could buy an equity interest in and LNG offtake from its Louisiana LNG project, Woodside said without disclosing further details. This comes after Woodside reached a final investment decision on the project in late April. Woodside and Aramco signed the agreement in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at the Saudi-US investment forum , which was attended by Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and US president Donald Trump. The collaboration shows Woodside's Louisiana project is generating interest among "high-quality potential investors," Woodside's CEO Meg O'Neill said, after selling 40pc of the project's infrastructure to US-based investment firm Stonepeak in early April. The agreement will also help the firm build a more diverse portfolio, as it branches into chemical production, O'Neill said. The firm's wholly-owned Beaumont New Ammonia project in Texas is expected to produce first ammonia in the second half of this year, and lower-carbon ammonia by the second half of next year. By Grace Dudley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Trump offers to make a deal with Iran

13/05/25

Trump offers to make a deal with Iran

Washington, 13 May (Argus) — US president Donald Trump today appealed to Iran's leaders to accept his offer of "peaceful engagement" and economic cooperation by giving up its nuclear program. "I want to make a deal with Iran," Trump said. "If I can make a deal with Iran, I'll be very happy. We're going to make your region and the world a safer place." The White House cast Trump's speech at a US-Saudi business forum in Riyadh as "a major foreign policy address outlining an optimistic vision for the future of the Middle East". Trump appears to be limiting his demands on Iran, calling for a halt to its nuclear program in exchange for US sanctions relief — a negotiating posture that he once disparaged. "We want [Iran] to be a wonderful, safe, great country, but they cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said today. "This is an offer that will not last forever. "If Iran's leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive, maximum pressure and drive Iranian oil exports to zero like I did before," Trump said. Trump upon returning to office has ratcheted up enforcement of oil sanctions against Iran, by also targeting independent refiners in China that for years have relied on discounted Iranian crude. In the latest action, the US Treasury Department today announced sanctions against China-based trader Qingdao Fushen and against Hong Kong- and Singapore-based companies allegedly engaged in concealing the origin of Iranian oil sold in China. Trump during his first term set a goal of reducing Iranian oil exports to zero. But Iran since 2019 has developed a sophisticated network of intermediaries and "shadow fleet" vessels, enabling it to continue exporting crude to buyers in China. Recent US sanctions measures have added costs along that supply chain, but China still imported close to 1.5mn b/d of Iranian crude in April. Availability of oil storage in Shandong, China, is the only factor limiting imports this month. Many buyers in China built up Iranian crude stocks earlier this year. In a major change from his first administration, Trump has authorized diplomatic negotiations with Tehran that both countries say have made progress. Trump since returning to the White House has barred his former Iran advisers from serving in his administration. And his top negotiator with Iran, former real estate developer Steve Witkoff, appears to have discarded the previous Trump administration's approach of adding other complex issues to nuclear talks, such as Iran's missile and drone capabilities or its network of regional proxies, although secretary of state Marco Rubio has suggested that all those issues should be addressed. A narrow focus on Tehran's nuclear program and an offer of sanctions relief is quite similar to former president Barack Obama's approach to Tehran, which resulted in a nuclear agreement that Trump once blasted as "the worst deal in history". Whether deliberately or not, Trump's speech today stood out as the antithesis to Obama's 2009 address in Cairo, where the former US president called for a reset of relations between the US and the Middle East. Unlike Obama, who 16 years ago called on the region to fulfil democratic aspirations as the best way to remedy economic failings, Trump in his remarks today praised the region's autocratic leaders for their economic development skills and said that the US under his leadership would be minimally involved in the region's political future. "The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad," Trump said. "The so-called 'nation-builders' wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies they did not understand." Iran, too, can build infrastructure projects like its Arab neighbors if it gives up "stealing people's wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad", Trump said. "Yet I'm here today not merely to condemn the past chaos of Iran's leaders, but to offer them a new path and a much better path toward a far better and more hopeful future," he said. Trump cited his short-lived campaign of bombing against Yemen's Houthis as an example of the limited US involvement in the Middle East he will try to practice as president. "My preference will always be for peace and partnership, whenever those outcomes can be achieved," he said. Trump on 6 May declared an end to his bombing campaign in Yemen that began on 15 March, leaving key questions unanswered, such as whether his ceasefire with the Houthis will fully reopen Red Sea waterways to international shipping. But in Trump's words, his campaign in Yemen was a complete victory. "We hit them hard, we got what we came for and then we got out," he said. By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more