Harvey Knocks Out US Crude Production

About 22% of US Gulf of Mexico oil production are offline due to Hurricane Harvey, the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Friday. That equates to roughly 377,117 barrels of oil per day, out of the roughly 1.75 million barrels pumped daily from the Gulf, Reuters reported. About 23.2% of Gulf of Mexico's natural gas production is offline due to Harvey, BSEE said. Roughly 86 platforms have been evacuated so far, about 12% in the region. Four of the 10 drilling rigs have also been evacuated, BSEE said. The US Department of Energy also said on Friday it stands ready to release crude oil from the nation’s emergency stockpile if needed due to the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, which is bearing down on the Texas coast. “The Department of Energy stands ready to provide assistance as deemed necessary, to include any release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” spokeswoman Shalyn Hynes said.