More US offshore oil, gas output restored: Update

Updates BSEE data, other details, recasts lead.

US offshore oil and gas operators have restarted more production in the Gulf of Mexico after assessing damage from Hurricane Ida.

Around 80pc of offshore crude output, or 1.45mn b/d, was shut as of 12:30pm ET today, a drop from about 94pc yesterday, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said. About 83pc of natural gas production, or 1.9 Bcf/d, also remained offline today, down from about 94pc yesterday.

The number of evacuated platforms totaled 249, down by 29 from yesterday, the BSEE said.

Chevron has started to redeploy personnel to provide closer assessments of the offshore facilities and restore production. The facilities appear to be undamaged based on overflights, the company said today. Chevron's Fourchon and Empire terminals that connect to offshore crude pipelines remain shut-in.

Shell oil and gas production assets also remain off line, except for Perdido in the southwestern Gulf and the Turritella floating production storage and offloading vessel 200 miles (322km) southwest of New Orleans.

Shell will halt crew changes on its Gulf of Mexico assets after its primary crew-change heliport in Houma, Louisiana, sustained significant damage in the storm.

Onshore recovery begins

Electricity was restored to parts of greater New Orleans, Louisiana, last night but refineries and petrochemical assets in the state may still be weeks away from regaining full strength.

Local utility Entergy said its online map of power outages in Louisiana showing fewer than 800,000 people without power today could not be trusted because of inaccuracies. Independent outage tracker PowerOutage.US showed nearly 1mn still in the dark in Louisiana as of 1:30pm ET today. The Department of Energy said damage assessments for the power grid should be completed by 2 September.

The federal government has declared a major disaster in Louisiana, with federal agencies sharing aerial and satellite imagery to support damage assessments, as well as helping with debris removal and traffic control in the state.

At least three refineries reported damage from the storm amid the power outages, which knocked offline more than 2mn b/d of capacity in the region.

Chevron's 356,000 Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery continues to operate and supply products to customers, the company told Argus today.

US bank Tudor Pickering Holt said it expects product crack spreads to remain elevated in the near term with Louisiana refining capacity taking several weeks to ramp back up to normal levels.

The US Coast Guard is finalizing plans to reopen the Mississippi river to vessel traffic today, according to shipping agents.

Ships on the river will still face restrictions. The Coast Guard yesterday established a safety zone just upriver from New Orleans, while it works with Entergy to recover downed transmission lines. All vessels are banned from entering the area without express permission until 30 September or until salvage operations are complete.

The port of Bienville, Mississippi, and the Louisiana ports of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Plaquemines, South Louisiana, St Bernard and the Venice port complex, remain closed to all vessel traffic. Those ports and the river have been closed since 28 August.

A segment of Kinder Morgan's 700,000 b/d Products (SE) Pipe Line system — formerly known as Plantation — from Mississippi to North Carolina resumed partial service today, but will be interrupted tomorrow because of supply constraints.

By Dylan Chase and Eunice Bridges