Good Golly Miss Dolly: 2008 Storms Begin Impact On Industry

The first tropical storm to have even a slight bit of impact on oil production in 2008 hurricane season is Dolly, which entered the Gulf of Mexico today and could reach a Category I and II before making landfall somewhere on the Texas coast this weekend. Image from the National Weather Service Shell is the only company that has reported evacuations thus far, though they do not expect the tropical storm to have any impact on production. This statement was posted on Shell's web site: "Shell began evacuations of personnel from some of its Gulf of Mexico West operations area on Sunday, July 20, resulting in the safe evacuation of approximately 125 people. We are planning to evacuate approximately 60 additional personnel on Monday, July 21." Taking into consideration the ways storms can impact oil production, a company called Storm Exchange helps corporations improve performance by identifying, quantifying and controlling the impact of weather on their income and expenses. Through data, analytics, forecasted weather risk scenarios, and hedging programs, Storm Exchange helps companies identify financial performance that results from exposures to precipitation, wind, temperature and other climate variables. Storm Exchange also operates its own weather research center in State College, PA. –Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com; www.OilandGasInvestor.com; lgoodier@hartenergy.com