Chevron and BHP said late Thursday they have shut several deepwater US Central Gulf of Mexico oil production platforms in advance of Tropical Storm Nate, including the former's Jack/St Malo and Tahiti facilities and BHP's Shenzi and Neptune.
Earlier Thursday, Chevron said it was preparing to shut its Blind Faith and Petronius platforms as Nate moved along a track that would place it ashore in eastern Louisiana, along the central US Gulf Coast, this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Later Thursday, the company began to shut the Genesis, Tahiti and Jack/St Malo platforms, and evacuate all associated personnel, Chevron spokeswoman Veronica Flores-Paniagua said in a statement.
Total daily production from the Jack and St. Malo fields in 2016 averaged 94,000 barrels of liquids and 14 million cubic feet of natural gas, Chevron has said. Tahiti in 2016 averaged a total of about 56,000 b/d of liquids and 22,000 Mcf/d of natural gas.
In addition, BHP is "in the process of shutting in and securing our Green Canyon production platforms, Shenzi and Neptune," BHP spokesman Jimmy Baker said late Thursday. "We intend to fully evacuate tomorrow morning and our crews will remain onshore until the storm has passed."
At 5 pm EDT Thursday, Nate's center was over eastern Honduras and was expected to move near or over the northeast Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, still as a tropical storm, late Friday or Friday night, and move into the US Gulf on Saturday, the NHC said.
It is forecast to reach the northern Gulf Coast this weekend as a hurricane.
"The threat of direct impacts from wind, storm surge and heavy rainfall is increasing from Louisiana through the Florida Panhandle," NHC said.
