How Oil and Gas Production is Impacted by Hurricanes
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), both the path and the size of a hurricane are the biggest factors that determine its impact on oil and gas production. It’s important to recognize this risk, especially since problems in this realm can have serious downstream effects.
Examples of Recent Hurricanes and their Impact on Oil and Gas Production
The EIA article lays out some interesting statistics and case studies. Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, and Hurricane Florence did not have any impact on oil and gas operations, simply because the trajectory of the storms did not cross paths with any production or infrastructure sites. Conversely, Hurricane Harvey and Nate directly impacted production areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and reduced overall production by 12 million barrels of crude oil and 18 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
But it’s not only storms passing over the Gulf of Mexico region that can cause problems. Production sites in this area largely rely on wells, storage facilities and gathering lines located in the southeast, which means storms in this area can also have a dramatic effect of Gulf of Mexico operations. In fact, damage to these non-producing infrastructure assets can often take longer to repair than damage occurring directly to a producing site.
The bottom line is that although electricity outages get most of the press, outages in other sectors –water service, natural gas service, and even oil and gas production – can generate substantial downstream issues that can substantially impact customers and response personnel.
