US Gulf of Mexico ports, refineries and rigs begin post-Nate recovery

Refinery and port operators on the US Gulf of Mexico coast were assessing their facilities on Monday in the wake of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Nate, according to Reuters.

And offshore oil and gas producers were beginning to allow workers to return to rigs.

Even though it did less damage than feared on its US landfalls, the storm had led to at least 30 deaths in four Central American countries and caused more than 90% of the US Gulf’s oil output to be shut in.

Phillips 66’s Alliance refinery and Valero’s Meraux refinery, both in Louisiana, were reported undamaged but it was not clear when they would resume production.

Alliance was bringing some units back online but may delay full production a few days because of lack of availability of crude.

The US Coast Guard (USCG) said vessel traffic and port operations at New Orleans had resumed on Sunday afternoon.

And the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) on Monday said that the number of offshore rigs and platforms with evacuated personnel had declined from 298 to 142 between Friday and Sunday as workers began returning.