The US government on Thursday authorized the release of emergency fuel stocks as refiners, and upstream producers were strained to restart production after the Category 4 Hurricane Ida, which slammed the US Gulf Coast on Sunday. The US Department of Energy said it would give a loan of 1.5 million barrels of crude from emergency stocks to Exxon’s Baton Rouge refinery to produce gasoline.
According to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, crews had returned to just around 25% of 288 offshore platforms evacuated ahead of the storm. As of Thursday, 1.7 million bpd (94%) of oil production and 2 Bcfd (91%) of gas output in the US Gulf of Mexico were offline. Shell said it discovered the damage at one platform during aerial surveys, adding that 80% of its offshore production remained offline.
