Hurricane Isaias Takes 1.46 Million Barrels a Day Off the Market in the Gulf

Hurricane Isaias kept 1,458,814 barrels per day of crude offline in the Gulf of Mexico at midday on Friday, October 9, equivalent to 71.51% of U.S. offshore crude production, according to the Minerals Management Administration (MMA). Shut-in natural gas totaled 1,259.2 million cubic feet per day, 58.84% of the total.

The shutdown escalated over three days. On Tuesday operators reported 185,120 barrels per day shut in, 9.24% of the total, and by Thursday the figure reached 1,282,879 barrels, 62.89%, according to the MMA's daily reports. Operators evacuated 129 production platforms, 34.77% of the 371 manned ones, and eight of the 11 non-dynamically positioned drilling rigs. The federal Gulf accounts for about 15% of U.S. crude and some 2,100 million cubic feet per day of gas, and Forbes México stresses that this coast concentrates more than half of the neighboring country's refining capacity, an activity essential to the supply of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

For Mexico the channel is direct: much of the gasoline and diesel it consumes comes from refineries on that coast, and the Mexican export blend is priced against Brent and West Texas Intermediate. The MMA describes the shutdowns as a standard safety measure using subsea valves to prevent spills.

The shutdown is not uniform, according to Argus Media:

- Shell halted production and evacuated personnel at Mars, Olympus, Ursa, Vito and Appomattox. - Chevron closed four of its operated facilities and kept five running normally. - BP suspended production at Na Kika and Thunder Horse and pulled out non-essential personnel.

Brent rose nearly 5% intraday on Thursday, after reports that President Donald Trump was weighing new attacks against Iran, and the average U.S. gasoline price stood at 4.36 dollars per gallon, 21 cents more than a month earlier, according to Forbes México. Andrew Lipow, president of the consultancy Lipow Oil, estimated that the hurricane affects 14% of U.S. refining capacity, about 2.7 million barrels per day; Argus Media placed refineries such as Chevron's Pascagoula, with 356,000 barrels per day, in the storm's path.

The National Hurricane Center expects Isaias to make landfall on the night of Friday, October 9 near the border between Alabama and Florida. The MMA updates its figures every day at 1 p.m. CDT and restarting production depends on inspections carried out after the system passes.

This piece was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.