The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimates that about 718,877 barrels of oil per day and about 812 MMcf/d of gas is offline in the Gulf of Mexico due to platform and rig evacuations caused by Hurricane Michael.
As of 1 p.m. CT on Oct. 10, the figures represent about 42.3% of daily oil output and 31.7% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, up from 39.5% and 28.4%, respectively, on Oct. 9.
Based on data from offshore operator reports from 30 companies, personnel have been evacuated from 89 production platforms, or about 13% of the 687 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, three of the Gulf's 22 rigs were evacuated and four of the region's 17 dynamically positioned rigs have moved off location.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Michael is an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds increasing to near 155 mph as of 2 p.m. ET. Michael should weaken as it crosses the southeastern U.S. through Oct. 11 but could re-strengthen as the system moves over the western Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 12, the hurricane center said.