Highlights: Th vast majority of offshore platforms and rigs escaped serious damage during the 2005 Hurricane Season
o Though 113 platforms were destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there are over 4,000 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. This means that over 97 percent of the platforms survived these record-breaking storms.
o Platforms are designed to withstand both gale force winds and and severe wave activity. For the upcoming season, new clamps capable of withstanding pressure of 2 million psi have been added to some platforms to hold major components in place under Katrina-like wind conditions.
o Offshore facilities built since 1988 are designed to withstand “100-year Storms,” a designation that includes everything up to Category 5 events.
o These standards are defined by regulations from the Minerals Management Service, the principal regulatory agency for offshore oil and gas operations. The specific regulations can be found in the Federal Register at 30 CFR 250.900
o To address wave threats, regulations stipulate that the platform deck must exceed the average height of hurricanedriven swells, generally estimated to reach 80 feet. Category 3, 4 and 5 storms all generate waves of approximately the same height.
o To address wind threats, offshore facilities work in advance of evacuation to prevent any section or piece of equipment being knocked loose and damaging the rest of the platform.
o In recent storms, virtually all platforms seriously damaged or destroyed had been built before the 1988 design specifications were implemented.
o Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed a total of 113 platforms, of which 108 were built to pre-1988 specifications.
o These “end-of-life” facilities only represented 1.5 percent of total Gulf of Mexico production.
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