Gulf Natural Gas Platform Update

By Tina Seeley

Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Energy producers in the U.S. have resumed about 52 percent of oil and 55 percent of natural-gas output in the Gulf of Mexico after platforms were shut down because of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Companies reported that one rig and 116 production platforms were still evacuated, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said today in a statement on its Web site. About 626,000 barrels of oil and 3.3 billion cubic feet of daily gas production remain idled.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for 26 percent of U.S. oil production and 14 percent of gas output. The Gulf produces 1.3 million barrels of oil and an estimated 7.4 billion cubic feet of gas a day, according to the Minerals Management Service, which is part of the U.S. Interior Department.

The report is based on responses from 63 companies as of 12:30 p.m. New York time.

Hurricane Ike made landfall in Texas on Sept. 13. Ike came less than two weeks after Hurricane Gustav swept through the Gulf of Mexico and struck the Louisiana coast.