Hurricane Francine Bears Down on Central Louisiana LNG Facilities

This article has been updated with the most recent numbers provided by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as of 2:15 PM CST, Sept. 11. 

Hurricane Francine was bearing down on the central Louisiana coast on Sept. 11 with wind gusts up to 90 mph, headed toward coastal LNG facilities after taking about a quarter of oil and gas production offline in the Gulf of Mexico.

Three LNG facilities—Sempra’s Cameron LNG, Venture Global LNG’s facilities in Calcasieu Pass and Tellurian’s site for Driftwood LNG—will all be close or in the path of Francine. Cameron LNG, as of this morning, is using a phased approach to manage day-to-day operations and ensure personnel safety. Current expectations are for the storm to hit east of Louisiana’s Cameron Parish.

Terminal operations at the Port of New Orleans were closed on Sept. 11, with facility managers’ expectations that operations will resume on Sept. 12, following damage assessments. Smaller ports in Louisiana will be closed to navigation while Texas ports will be open with some restrictions, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

On Sept. 11, the storm was 135 miles southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, as of 7 a.m. CST, leading to a hurricane warning from Vermilion/Cameron Line eastward to Grand Isle, according to the National Hurricane Center. The balance of the state is under a hurricane watch. A storm surge watch has been issued from Mississippi to Florida, including Mobile Bay. It’s anticipated that the height of the storm surge could be as high as 10 ft.

In the GoM, personnel have been evacuated from 171 production platforms, according to the latest update from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. That’s about 46% of all manned platforms in the Gulf. Three non-dynamically positioned rigs, which are moored to the seafloor, have been evacuated. Another four dynamically positioned rigs, which are still staffed, have been moved out of the storm’s path.

BSEE also provided updates on reductions in oil and natural gas production. The flow of oil has been reduced by approximately 39% and gas production has been reduced by about 49%. The process, which includes closing various safety valves, shuts in production.

The storm is expected to make landfall late afternoon or early evening on Sept. 11.

RELATED

Hurricane Francine Shuts in Quarter of GoM Oil, Gas Production