More than 95 percent of Gulf oil production lost

[ck4829]

As oil prices flirted with the $70 per barrel mark, more than 95 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's normal daily oil production was shut in Tuesday because of Hurricane Katrina, a federal agency said.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service said 645 of the 819 staffed production platforms in the Gulf were shut down, delaying production of 1.43 million barrels of oil. On a normal day, the Gulf produces 1.5 million barrels.

The shutdowns also delayed production of 8.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas, or 88 percent of the Gulf's normal daily gas production of 10 billion cubic feet, the MMS reported from a survey of 68 companies.

Since Katrina first threatened Gulf platforms, 4.63 million barrels of oil and 25.4 billion cubic feet of gas have been delayed from reaching market.

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1125430141147720.xml&storylist=louisiana

So, what Bush is pulling out of the Strategic Reserve will not help very much at all.

[ret5hd]

1. without extra refining capability, it won't help at all.

[datasuspect]

2. and the US has not built a major refinery since the 1970s. eom

[Jamison]

3. I saw pics of the damage to the oil rigs down there.

A few were completely gone, and had sunk to the bottom of the gulf. All you could see were the support poles sticking out of the water.