88 percent of Gulf of Mexico oil production blocked

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The Associated PressSeptember 02, 2005

About 88 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's normal daily oil production was blocked from market Friday because of offshore platform evacuations forced by Hurricane Katrina, a federal agency reported.The U.S. Minerals Management Service said 328 of the 819 staffed production platforms in the Gulf were shut down, delaying production of 1.33 million barrels of oil, or 88.5 percent of the region's normal daily production of 1.5 million barrels, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said following a survey of 69 energy companies.With oil and gasoline prices under pressure, a return to production in the Gulf has been slow this week. On Tuesday, the day after Katrina hit, 95 percent of the Gulf's normal daily production was shut in.Since Katrina first threatened Gulf platforms, 8.8 million barrels of oil and 49 billion cubic feet of natural gas have been delayed from reaching market, the MMS said.The Gulf normally produces 547.5 million barrels of oil and 3.65 trillion cubic feet of gas a year.