A week after Hurricane Ida made landfall, damage to oil manufacturing plants in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico forced the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to temporarily suspend operations, Reuters reports.
It’s taken energy firms a long time to restore production because of damaged platforms, onshore power outages, and logistical problems. At least 88% of crude oil production and 83% of natural gas production were shut down, respectively.
Only approximately 100,000 barrels of crude oil have been replenished since Saturday, leaving about 1.6 million barrels offline. According to the regulator, another 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas output was also shut down.
On Sunday, 104 oil and gas platforms and five rigs remained evacuated, down from the 288 that had been evacuated earlier.
As a result of Hurricane Ida, Louisiana’s oil refineries have begun restarting. A further five plants are yet to reopen, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
There have been restarts at four refineries in the Baton Rouge region and one in New Orleans, according to the Department of Energy. The four refineries in the United States have a combined capacity of 1.3 million barrels per day.
It has been reported that utilities have restored electric service to seven of the affected refineries.
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