More than 12% of crude production and 16% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Sept. 16.

There were 213,204 bbl/d of oil and 298 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas still offline after Francine hit the coast last week.

The hurricane caused U.S. offshore oil and gas producers to lose 2.37 MMbbl of oil and 4.93 Bcf of gas due to shut-ins that began last week, according to a Reuters tally of BSEE daily estimates.

Oil and gas producers began shutting in offshore production a week ago, as Francine moved through the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

There were 24 oil and gas platforms still evacuated on Sept. 16, about 6.5% of the Gulf of Mexico total, down from 171 evacuated offshore platforms at peak last week, the offshore regulator said citing reports from producers.

Exxon Mobil said on Sept. 16 it was working to safely restart operations at its Hoover offshore platform in the Gulf.

Meanwhile, Chevron also redeployed all personnel to their Gulf facilities and resumed production.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 15% of all domestic oil production and 2% of natural gas output, according to federal data.

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