sumisu, I'm really patient on TDYH and I know audits take time. I think they are trying to do it right and it will pay off for us in the long term. Here's some news on the Gulf damage...
Katrina pipeline damage more than first thought By Tom Doggett
1 hour, 52 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina did more damage to underwater oil and natural gas pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico than previously thought, according to the U.S. agency that oversees offshore energy production.
The head of the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, Johnnie Burton, said two weeks ago that Katrina did not do as much damage to offshore pipelines as Hurricane Ivan did a year earlier.
However, Burton's estimate turned out to be too optimistic, and the damage is much worse. "It appears that way," said MMS spokesman Gary Strasburg, who pointed out that Burton's comments were based on initial data available at the time.
"I think in her remarks she said that it was preliminary information," he said.
Strasburg could not elaborate on how much worse the damage is from Katrina, saying the agency is still trying to figure out the impact of Hurricane Rita.
Burton was out of the country and unavailable for comment.
Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane, churned through the Gulf of Mexico with winds of over 155 mph, before striking the Louisiana and Mississippi coast on August 29. Rita hit the Texas-Louisiana border last weekend with winds of 120 mph.
All U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, about 1.5 million barrels a day, had been offline for five days in a row since Rita made landfall last Saturday near the Texas-Louisiana border. Some output finally returned on Thursday, when about 33,000 barrels a day, or 1.4 percent of normal production, came back on online.
Natural gas output is in slightly better shape, with about 80 percent, or 8 billion cubic feet a day, shut-in.
While damage by Rita to offshore drilling rigs and underwater pipelines is part of the reason for reduced oil output, problems at onshore facilities are also at fault, according to MMS.
Specifically, the refineries still shut down due to both hurricanes can't use the offshore oil and storage tanks are filling up, which diminishes the need for energy companies to restart, for those that can, their Gulf production operations.
"The role of onshore facilities (in not bringing back production) is something we're trying to determine," said MMS spokeswoman Susan Weaver. "That is certainly a factor, I cannot tell you how much at this point."
She pointed out that MMS' Burton said two weeks ago that 35 percent of the Gulf oil output shut-in by Katrina was due to problems at onshore facilities.
"We are not yet able to assign a percentage to it (for Rita)," Weaver said. "It's a question we're trying to get a figure on."
The information-gathering process has been slowed by the closing of the MMS' offices in New Orleans and Houston, where the agency's staff that usually deal with offshore energy production are located.
The oil companies also haven't been able to resume their operations fully because all their workers have not returned. Many of them are still dealing with the disruption to their lives after the hurricanes.
"Personnel is a big issue here for onshore (facilities) as well as offshore," Weaver said. "That is certainly a factor in this."
She said the MMS hopes to provide a more complete update soon on the hurricane damage to energy infrastructure and what effect that has on Gulf production.
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