Nearly 30% of US Gulf of Mexico oil production offline after storm By Reuters

(Correct name of regulatory authority for Office of Safety and Environmental Enforcement in paragraph 3)

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Nearly 30 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico production and 41 percent of its output remained offline on Saturday after Hurricane Francine, the U.S. offshore energy regulator said.

Francine passed through the oil and gas producing areas of the US Gulf of Mexico and slammed into Louisiana with winds of up to 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). The midweek storm toppled trees, flooded coastal areas and knocked out power in four states. On Saturday, about 37,000 customers were without power in Louisiana.

A survey of offshore energy producers showed more than 522,000 barrels of oil production and 755 million cubic meters of gas remained offline on Saturday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.

There were 52 oil and gas rigs unmanned by energy workers on Saturday, about 14 percent of the region’s total, down from a peak of 171 evacuated offshore rigs earlier in the week, the offshore regulator said.

Two of the Chevron The company’s (NYSE: ) platforms were operating at reduced rates due to an outage at an onshore gas plant, the company said on Saturday. Full production at the two – Jack/St. Malo and Big Foot – will resume after the land outage is resolved, it said.

Chevron did not identify the operator of the gas plant.

The second-largest U.S. oil producer said it was continuing to bring back workers and restore oil production at its Anchor and Tahiti platforms, which were shut down before Hurricane Francine. Initial assessments show that none suffered significant damage, Chevron said.