U.S energy companies striving to resume operations after hurricane Ida

By Bisola Adeyemo

Energy companies have been struggling to resume production after hurricane Ida destroyed more than 80% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and other areas, a U.S. regulator said on Monday

According to Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, about
1.5 million barrels per day of oil production, or 84% remains shut, while another 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas output or 81%, was offline.

Reuters quoted the agency as saying “The entire region is still struggling with resupply,” said Tony Odak, chief operating officer of Stone Oil Distributor, which supplies fuel to the offshore industry.

“The refiners are coming back up slowly, but there is so much infrastructure that needs to be brought back online and inspected as well.”

Five refineries in Louisiana remained shut on Monday, accounting for about 1 million barrels-per-day of refinery capacity, or about 6% of the total U.S. operable refining capacity, the Department of Energy said.

All three refineries in the Baton Rouge area and one near New Orleans have begun to restart, accounting for 1.3 million bpd of refining capacity, DOE said.

However, the refiners will not produce at full rates for several days. Operations remain limited at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) marine terminal, and repairs are under way, DOE said.