The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Friday that more than 70% of oil production and more than 50% of natural gas output in the US Gulf of Mexico was offline as Tropical Storm Nate approached, according to Reuters and Bloomberg.
The total oil production offline as of Friday afternoon was equivalent to 1.24m barrels per day.
Nate left a trail of death and destruction in the Central American nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, with a death toll of at least 22 connected to the storm.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida is predicting from Friday data that Nate will strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane when it arrives at the US Gulf coast, probably on Sunday.
Officials across the Gulf coast from Texas to Florida have warned citizens to prepare. The region has been beset by hurricanes for two months.
States of emergency had been declared in 29 Florida counties and in New Orleans, Louisiana.
BSEE comes under the US Department of the Interior (DOI).
