U.S. oil companies on July 15 began restoring some of the more than nearly 74% production shut at U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) platforms ahead of Hurricane Barry, the U.S. offshore drilling regulator said.

There was 1.3 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil production off line in the U.S.-regulated areas of the GoM on July 15, about 80,000 barrels less than on July 14, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

Workers also were returning to the more than 280 production platforms evacuated. It can take several days for full production to be resumed after a storm leaves the GoM.

Anadarko Petroleum, BHP Group and Chevron Corp. on July 15 said they had begun returning staff to evacuated platforms and were in the process of restoring operations.

Barry went ashore in central Louisiana as a category one hurricane with at least 74 miles per hour (119 km per hour) on July 13 after emerging into the GoM from Florida earlier in the week. On July 15, it was a tropical depression and dropping up to four inches (10 cm) of rain on Arkansas.

In Barry’s wake, offshore natural gas production in the GoM was down 61%, or 1.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), on July 15, BSEE said.

The amount of gas flowing to Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility in Louisiana, rose to a one-week high of 3.7 Bcf/d.

Last week, the amount of gas flowing to Sabine fell to a 13-week low of 2.9 Bcf/d on July 11, according to Refinitiv.

Most refineries in southeast Louisiana kept running through the storm except for Phillips 66’s 253,600-bbl/d Alliance, Louisiana, refinery, which the company began restarting on July 15.

The Alliance refinery was shut on July 12 due to the threat of flooding and a mandatory evacuation order in Plaquemines Parish, where the refinery is located along the Mississippi River.

Offshore