BSEE Reveals Hurricane Beryl's Production Platform Impact

At Hurricane Beryl’s peak on July 8, 15 production platforms were evacuated and shut-in production reached 151,306 barrels of oil per day and 154 million cubic feet of gas per day.

That’s what was revealed in a post on the X page of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which describes itself as the lead U.S. agency charged with improving safety and ensuring environmental protection related to the oil and natural gas industry on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

The organization issued a notice to lessees, operators, and pipeline right-of-way holders on July 9, “to identify and describe the affected area for Hurricane Beryl and to elaborate on the inspections, plans, and reports needed due to known and potential damage to OCS facilities and pipelines”.

Back in August 2021, the BSEE estimated that approximately 95.65 percent of oil production and approximately 93.75 percent of gas production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut in as a result of Hurricane Ida. The BSEE revealed at the time that, based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 CDT on August 29, 2021, personnel had been evacuated from a total of 288 production platforms.

When Rigzone asked the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) if it recorded any oil and gas production platform outages as a result of Hurricane Beryl, an RRC spokesperson said the RRC had not had reports of significant impacts on oil and gas supply from the hurricane.

The RRC is the state agency with primary regulatory jurisdiction over the oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, critical natural gas infrastructure, and coal and uranium surface mining operations, its site notes.

In a release posted on the Office of the Texas Governor’s website, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, “our hearts grieve for all Texans impacted by Hurricane Beryl, including our fellow Texans who tragically lost their lives or were injured”.

“I remain in regular contact with Acting Governor Dan Patrick and Chief Nim Kidd regarding the state’s ongoing response to Hurricane Beryl and recovery efforts in impacted parts of Texas. We also will continue to stay in contact with electrical providers about the necessity to quickly restore power,” he added.

“The safety of Texans remains our No. 1 priority, and I urge everyone across the state to continue to heed the guidance of local officials as severe weather threats persist in the coming days. We will remain engaged around the clock until every Texan recovers,” he continued.

The release highlighted that Patrick requested a federal disaster declaration through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and that President Joe Biden granted the state’s request.

The major disaster declaration allows for reimbursement for up to 75 percent of costs associated with expenses for debris management and emergency protective measures, the release noted, adding that the state of Texas may make additional requests as damage assessments are completed.

Texas emergency response resources remain engaged in impacted communities across the state, the release stated.

“I spoke today with Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell,” Biden said in a statement posted on the White House website.

“On the call, I raised the need for an emergency declaration and immediately approved a major disaster declaration for the damage sustained from the hurricane, which ripped through Texas’ Gulf Coast and Houston yesterday. FEMA has had resources on the ground since well before the storm and will support the needs of the state,” he added.

“The greatest concern right now is the power outages and extreme heat that is impacting Texans. As you all know, extreme heat kills more Americans than all the other natural disasters combined. As part of the federal support, we pre-positioned generators and are moving in additional ones to support any power outages, which will help Texans as the extreme heat arrives,” he continued.

“With this major disaster declaration in place, we will provide life-saving and life-sustaining activities, and any other Federal resource that Texas needs. We will be with the people of Texas for as long as it takes to recover,” Biden went on to state.

At the time of writing, more than 1.7 million electric customers in Texas were without power, the PowerOutage.us site showed. On July 9, the site outlined that this figure stood at more than 2.3 million. PowerOutage.us describes itself as an ongoing project created to track, record, and aggregate power outages across the United States.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com