(ICIS) -- Much of the offshore oil and natural gas production in the US Gulf remained shut-in as a result of Tropical Storm Lee, regulators said on Sunday. As of 11:30 Houston time (16:30 GMT), companies have evacuated personnel from 239 production platforms, or 38.7% of the 617 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
In all, 60.2% of the Gulf's oil production and 44.3% of its natural gas production has been shut in, the bureau said. The natural gas figure is lower than Saturday's, when 54.6% was shut-in. Earlier, Tropical Storm Lee had made landfall on the coast of Louisiana.
The southern portion of Louisiana has several refineries and petrochemical plants. Although companies were on alert for any disruptions, there were no known shutdowns or cutbacks in production.Oil companies, though, had evacuated personnel from offshore platforms.
MRC