More U.S. oil and gas production, refineries shut ahead of hurricane

Royal Dutch Shell said it shut its Appomattox oil platform about 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, joining BP , Chevron Corp and Equinor in closing facilities less than one month after Hurricane Laura forced up to 1.5 million barrels per day of output to close temporarily. Nearly 396,000 bpd of offshore crude oil production and 25%, or 685 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of natural gas output were shut in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Interior Department.

More than a fifth of U.S. offshore oil production was shut and key exporting ports were closed on Tuesday as a precaution ahead of Hurricane Sally's landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the second significant storm to shutter oil and gas activity over the last month. Slow-moving Sally weakened to a Category 1 hurricane on Tuesday and is expected to maintain that strength with sustained winds of 85 mile per hour (140 km per hour) through landfall by early Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm's trajectory takes it through the prime U.S. offshore production areas on a path toward western Alabama, sparing some larger Gulf Coast refineries from high winds. Royal Dutch Shell said it shut its Appomattox oil platform about 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, joining BP , Chevron Corp and Equinor in closing facilities less than one month after Hurricane Laura forced up to 1.5 million barrels per day of output to close temporarily.

Nearly 396,000 bpd of offshore crude oil production and 25%, or 685 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of natural gas output were shut in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, according to the U.S. Interior Department. Total oil production losses could reach 3 million to 6 million barrels over several days, estimated consultancy Rystad Energy.

U.S. crude oil futures rose nearly 3% and gasoline futures climbed 2.2% on Tuesday on the hurricane-related oil production and refinery shut-ins. The nation's sole offshore terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), stopped loading tankers on Sunday, while the port of New Orleans closed on Monday. That will cut off roughly 307,000 bpd of crude and 411,000 bpd of refined products, according to Kpler data.

As of 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, Sally was about 55 miles (88 km) east of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and crawling toward the northwest at 2 mph (3 kph). Refiners in the region have wound down operations. Phillips 66 shut its Alliance oil refinery, which processes 255,600 bpd at a site along the Mississippi River on the coast of Louisiana.

Shell cut production to minimum rates on Monday at its 227,400-bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery. It declined immediate comment on its Mobile, Alabama, chemical and oil refinery.

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