One sixth of all offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut by late on Wednesday in preparation for Tropical Storm Cindy, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said.
Personnel had been evacuated from 40 platforms said BSEE, an agency which is part of the Department of the Interior (DoI) and which works to promote safety, protect the environment and conserve resources offshore.
The US Coast Guard (USCG) decided to keep the Houston Ship Channel open but pilots had stopped guiding vessels to Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.
Already on Tuesday, vessel unloading had been suspended at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) marine terminal near Port Fourchon.
Cindy was approaching southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas and expected to make landfall early on Thursday before moving over southeast Texas, the National Hurricane Centre said.
Associated heavy rainfall was already affecting the northern Gulf coast on Wednesday evening.
