Francine shuts in about 42pc of US Gulf oil: Update

Adds BSEE shut-in data update.

Hurricane Francine, which has since weakened to a tropical depression as it passes over central Mississippi, shut in about 42pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output.

About 730,472 b/d of offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET Thursday, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 991.68mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 53pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators evacuated workers from 169 platforms this week ahead of the storm.

Companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell relocated offshore workers and suspended some drilling operations ahead of Francine, while a number of ports, including New Orleans, Louisiana, shut down.

Shell curtailed output at the Appomattox platform, around 80 miles south east of Louisiana, as well as the Mars, Vito, Ursa, and Olympus platforms because of downstream issues. Today Shell said it has started to redeploy staff to its Perdido facility, located about 190 miles south of Houston, where production is still shut. Operations at Shell's Auger and Enchilada/Salsa assets, about 120 miles south of Vermillion Bay, Louisiana. remain suspended. Drilling is still halted at the Whale platform, which is scheduled to start up later this year.

"As conditions continue to improve, we will begin the process of redeploying personnel to Auger and Enchilada/Salsa to bring staffing to normal operating levels," Shell said.

The port of Lake Charles reopened to vessel traffic at 11am ET Thursday after closing on Tuesday evening. The port of New Orleans remained closed.

Francine was about 15 miles north-northeast of Jackson, Mississippi, as of a 12pm ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 35mph. It slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday evening before weakening.

By Stephen Cunningham and Tray Swanson