Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Offshore oil and gas operators, including Chevron, BP, Shell, Equinor, and BHP, are evacuating personnel from their platforms and shutting in production as Hurricane Ida crosses the Gulf of Mexico and approaches the US Gulf Coast. The US National Weather Service expects the storm will strengthen into a major hurricane by early Sunday before it makes landfall along the Louisiana Gulf Coast late Sunday evening or early Monday. The US government estimates some 16% of offshore platforms had been evacuated and some 49% of gas production had been shut in as of midday Friday. *** US rig counts were up by five in the last week, bringing the total to 508, up 254 from a year ago. Gas-directed rigs remained at 97, while oil-directed rigs climbed five to 410. Gas- and oil-directed rigs are up 72 and 180, respectively, from a year ago.
