Chevron shuts down Gulf of Mexico oil and gas rig ahead of Hurricane Milton

Chevron has shut down its Blind Faith rig in the US Gulf of Mexico and evacuated all personnel from the facility in preparation for Hurricane Milton, the supermajor said Monday.

“Production from our other Chevron-operated Gulf of Mexico assets remains at normal levels,” Chevron said in a media update as weather services, forecasters and Gulf of Mexico producers track Hurricane Milton’s path.

Tropical Storm Milton intensified over the weekend to a Category 3 hurricane, which is expected to make landfall along Florida’s west coast later this week after crossing parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Early Monday, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory that Hurricane Milton was rapidly strengthening. A storm watch is in effect for the Florida Gulf Coast from Flamingo north to the mouth

The Suwannee River, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay, the NHC said. A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening flooding from rising water moving inland from the coast in the indicated locations over the next 48 hours.

As Chevron prepares for Hurricane Milton, the company has shut down the Blind Faith offshore platform while following its storm preparedness procedures at its onshore sites and paying close attention to forecasting and tracking the system.

Producers in the US Gulf of Mexico have shut down some rigs and been producing in recent weeks ahead of other tropical storms and hurricanes in the area.

Shell halted production at its Perdido, Auger and Enchilada/Salsa assets due to Hurricane Francine, which made landfall in Louisiana in early September.

Days later, Shell was preparing to shut down oil and gas production at two of its platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico due to a tropical disturbance.

One of those disturbances later became Hurricane Helene, which spared oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico but devastated areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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