Equinor shuts US Gulf platform, others evacuate workers ahead of storm
- Cristobal had weakened to a tropical depression while over land in Mexico.
- US producer Murphy Oil said it was evacuating all workers from the Gulf of Mexico.
- Shell is evacuating non-essential workers in the Gulf as Cristobal begins moving north to r
HOUSTON: Norwegian state-oil company Equinor ASA said on Friday it was shutting in production on its Titan platform in the Gulf of Mexico while other producers evacuated workers ahead of Tropical Storm Cristobal.
Cristobal had weakened to a tropical depression while over land in Mexico but returned to tropical storm strength as it approached re-entry into the Gulf around midday on Friday.
Cristobal is forecast to strike the central Louisiana coast on Sunday evening after passing through the heart of US offshore oil production areas over the weekend, according the US National Hurricane Center.
Equinor will evacuate remaining workers later on Friday, a spokesman said.
US producer Murphy Oil said it was evacuating all workers from the Gulf of Mexico, but declined to say if production was affected.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Friday there has been no impact to offshore oil production from Cristobal, but it expects a minimal impact to drilling.
Shell is evacuating non-essential workers in the Gulf as Cristobal begins moving north to reach the Louisiana coast.
Occidental Petroleum Corp also has evacuated non-essential workers from some of its central Gulf of Mexico facilities.
BP began shutting in production on Wednesday as it was pulling workers from the Gulf.
The US Energy Information Administration expects the Gulf of Mexico to account for 15% of total US crude oil production in 2020.
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