BP Pulls Offshore Staff as Tropical Storm Bertha Nears


   
Barani Krishnan
DTN Refined Fuels Market Reporter

   SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) -- BP said it has begun evacuating non-essential 
personnel from two major deepwater production platforms in the U.S. Gulf of 
Mexico as Tropical Storm Bertha advances westward across the eastern basin.

   The workers were removed from BP's Thunder Horse and Na Kika offshore 
facilities located off the coast of Louisiana in the Mississippi Canyon area of 
the central Gulf of Mexico, the company announced in a statement issued Monday 
(7/20).

   "With forecasts indicating the storm may track westward in the coming days, 
we have taken steps to prepare," the BP statement said. "Out of an abundance of 
caution, bp has removed some non-essential personnel."

   The company has not reported any immediate shut-ins or reductions in crude 
oil and natural gas production at either deepwater facility.

   Thunder Horse and Na Kika are critical deepwater hubs, together representing 
a significant portion of BP's total offshore production capacity in the Gulf of 
Mexico.

   Market participants are monitoring the system's progression closely as 
potential supply disruptions threaten to tighten Gulf Coast crude availability.

   According to the National Hurricane Center, Bertha is packing 60 mph winds 
and creeping north-northwest across the northern Gulf, triggering surge risks 
in the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana.




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