MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2022) BP and Chevron announced on Monday they were evacuating staff and shutting down production at some of their Gulf of Mexico oil rigs in preparation for Hurricane Ian, which hit Cuba on Tuesday morning.
"In preparation for the tropical weather, we have begun transporting all personnel from our Petronius and Blind Faith platforms and are shutting-in the facilities," Chevron stated on its website, while its competitor's site said that "BP has shut in production and evacuated all personnel from our Na Kika platform. BP is also shutting in production and evacuating all essential personnel from our Thunder Horse platform."
The oil majors added that while production remained normal at other sites, they were monitoring the track of Hurricane Ian.
On September 26, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned that a life-threatening storm surge, hurricane force winds, flash floods and possible mudslides were expected in Western Cuba. Ian, which the NHC upgraded to the "major hurricane" category, hit the island early on Tuesday, when maximum sustained winds at landfall were estimated to reach 125 miles/hour. The hurricane is then forecast to head toward Florida, where a life threatening storm surge is due to hit the state's west coast on Wednesday.
