About 42pc of US Gulf oil output still shut on Francine

About 42pc of oil output in the Gulf of Mexico was still shut-in on Friday, just days after Hurricane Francine passed through the region.

Around 732,316 b/d of offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET Friday, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 973.20mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 52pc of the region's output, was also off line. The volume of crude production shut in rose slightly from yesterday, by about 2,000 b/d, while curtailed gas output fell. Operators evacuated workers from 144 platforms this week ahead of the storm.

Shell said today it is ramping up production at its Appomattox, Mars, Vito, Ursa and Olympus platforms after resolving downstream issues.

However, the company's Perdido, Auger and Enchilada/Salsa assets remain shut-in due to other downstream issues. And drilling remains on hold at its Whale asset, which is scheduled to begin operations later this year.

The port of New Orleans resumed all normal operations Thursday evening. Preliminary damage assessments showed no significant damage to facilities or infrastructure, port officials said, while onshore refinery operational issues appear to be minor.

By Stephen Cunningham and Tray Swanson