Economy Takes a Hit - Even in a TS...

[Ixolib]

Storm shuts Gulf of Mexico oil rigs
By Jim Jelter, MarketWatch
Last Update: 4:44 PM ET July 5, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tropical storm Cindy, whipping up seas off the coast of Louisiana, has prompted operators to evacuate crews from a 29 rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, federal officials said Tuesday.

The evacuations, part of routine safety precautions whenever a tropical storm bears down on the region, have cut offshore oil production by 49,830 barrels per day, or about 3.3% of the region's overall 1.5 million bpd output, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service.

The storm also reduced natural gas production in the Gulf by 352 million cubic feet a day, or 3.5% of the region's 10 billion cubic feet daily production volume, officials said.
There are 819 manned production platforms and 135 mobile drilling rigs operating in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Cindy, about 125 miles off Louisiana, was packing sustained winds of about 50 miles per hour and expected to make landfall Wednesday in the Mississippi River Delta, the National Hurricane Center said.

However, the storm isn't expected to intensify to hurricane-category strength.