Personnel have been evacuated from six production platforms as Tropical Depression No. 9 moves farther into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said in a news release Aug. 29.

The platforms make up less than 1% of the 781 manned platforms in the GoM, BSEE said.

Personnel have been evacuated from one non-dynamically positioned (DP) rig, equivalent to 6.25% of the 16 rigs of this type currently operating in the GoM, while a total of five DP rigs have moved off location out of the storm’s path as a precaution, BSEE said. This number represents 20% percent of the 25 DP rigs currently operating in the GoM.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell started securing facilities and evacuating non-essential personnel from their drilling rigs and platforms in the GoM, Reuters reported Aug. 26.

“From operator reports, it is estimated that approximately 11.48 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in,” BSEE said. “It is also estimated that approximately 5.51 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in.”

As part of the evacuation process, personnel activate the applicable shut-in procedure, which can frequently be accomplished from a remote location. The process involves closing the sub-surface safety valves located below the surface of the ocean floor to prevent the release of oil or gas, BSEE explained in the news release. During previous hurricane seasons, the shut-in valves functioned 100% of the time, efficiently shutting in production from wells—a standard procedure conducted by industry for safety and environmental reasons.

Facilities will be inspected after the storm has passed, BSEE said, adding “once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back on line immediately. Facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back online.”

Offshore