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Home Front Economy
Ike damaged about 10 oil platforms out of 3,800 in the region
2008-09-17
Hurricane Ike appears to have damaged about 10 oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, US officials said Sunday, raising concerns that the storm could hurt oil production and lead to a spike in prices at US gas stations.

Eileen Angelico, a spokeswoman with the US Mineral Management Service (MMS), told AFP that officials were only able to make a rough estimate of the number of damaged platforms based on "flyovers" of the area, which has some 3,800 oil platforms.

"We expect (the number of) damaged platforms to be around 10," she said, adding that the reports of damage at this point are "preliminary." "We don't know yet the extent of this damage," she said.

The MMS said that Hurricane Katrina in 2005 ravaged 44 platforms, while Hurricane Rita which struck the Gulf Coast oil installations later that same year damaged 64 platforms.

Ike hammered the oil hub early Saturday, apparently impairing US oil production as it stranded thousands of people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
Posted by:3dc

#4  BrerRabbit,
Check the 'Colonial Pipeline' to understand more about why shortages (and price hikes) were where they were/are. It collects refined products from plants along the Gulf Coast and transports them up through Georgia and the Carolinas, with branches to Chattanooga and Knoxville. Gustav cut power to a number of the pumping stations and just as it was getting back on line Ike took the supplying refineries off (as well as cutting pump power again). I don't know if it is back on line yet (certainly the western part is not, but feed-ins from some Mississippi River plants may be underway.) Combine that with a large surge in demand from evacuating people. Add in the fact that the distributors were drawing down their more expensive summer blend stocks to make room for the winter blends (which were just starting to come in) and you are guaranteed spot shortages. Add in panic buying and you get widespread outages (understand that the total storage volume of refined gasoline in the entire system is less than the empty space in America's vehicle's gas tanks under normal conditions - or so I have been told).
I know of one distributor in East Tennessee who was low but not out and had set their sales price at $4.99. After being threatened with gouging prosecutions they dropped it to $4.49, sold out in hours, and closed down indefinitely. So customers who got the gas are less unhappy, but others who did not can't even get to work now, and people who were on vacation sit stranded - they would have been less unhappy to have paid the $4.99. So it goes. Should shake out in a few more weeks, I believe.
Posted by: Glenmore   2008-09-17 12:32  

#3  Ike destroyed about 28 platforms - 10 of our company alone. But they were all older facilities with fairly modest production - perhaps 1000 barrels per day per platform, average. It is likely this production is permanently lost however, because the total reserves still potentially recoverable in those reservoirs are not sufficient to pay for expensive new platforms and wells.

Three drilling rigs were destroyed and several others severely damaged.

At least one pipeline was damaged, but many more must be tested before they can be put on production again. Fields off eastern Louisiana mostly had only minor damage and are being restored to production - this oil should start reaching shore in a week or so. It will take longer to assess damage and make repairs to the platforms and pipelines off western Louisiana though.
Posted by: Glenmore   2008-09-17 12:18  

#2  That must have been the East Tennessee Ten that got damaged. that would explain why the price of gas went up here about $1.50 /gal the day before Ike made landfall.
Posted by: BrerRabbit   2008-09-17 11:45  

#1  Ack! We're all gonna die!
Posted by: gorb   2008-09-17 04:18  

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