Roughly a quarter of the nation’s offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is shut down Tuesday as Tropical Storm Francine approaches the Gulf Coast, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Francine, which is barreling northeast in the western Gulf of Mexico, is predicted to become a hurricane by landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday, with heavy rain and storm surges, according to NOAA. But the storm has already driven oil and gas workers out of its path, according to BSEE.
As of Tuesday, offshore oil and gas workers have been evacuated from 130 production platforms, or about 35 percent of the manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, where most U.S. offshore oil and gas is produced, according to BSEE.
Personnel has also evacuated from several drilling sites — rigs are typically moved from location to location as opposed to production platforms that are built in place. Three drilling rigs have been moved out of the storm’s path, according to the agency.
