Francine moves inland as tropical depression

Hurricane Francine weakened to a tropical depression on Thursday after slamming into southern Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane the previous evening and spurring offshore operators to shut in around 39pc of oil output in the Gulf of Mexico.

Francine was last about 30 miles south of Jackson, Mississippi, according to an 8am ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 35mph. The storm will move over central and northern portions of Mississippi through early Friday bringing heavy rains.

Offshore oil and gas operators including Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron evacuated workers and shut in production from some of their offshore operations in advance of Francine, while a number of ports, including New Orleans, Louisiana, shut down.

About 674,833 b/d of offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET Wednesday, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 907mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 49pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators evacuated workers from 171 platforms.

Shell said Wednesday evening that production at its Perdido, Auger, and Enchilada/Salsa facilities in the Gulf of Mexico remained shut in, but it would reassess its position as offshore conditions improve.

BP said it temporarily shut down and evacuated personnel from its Castrol lubricants facility in Port Allen, Louisiana.

By Stephen Cunningham