An evaluation of post-hurricane recovery of oil and gas platforms destroyed in the 2004-2005 Gulf of Mexico hurricane seasons
by Mark J. Kaiser
International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT), Vol. 2, No. 3, 2009

Abstract: Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, and Rita passed through the Gulf of Mexico during 2004 and 2005 and resulted in the largest number of destroyed and damaged offshore structures in the history of Gulf operations. In the final official government assessment, a total of 120 platforms were destroyed and over 183 structures were identified as having extensive damage. One deepwater floating structure, Chevron's mini tension-leg platform Typhoon, was destroyed. According to Minerals Management Service production data, 21 destroyed platforms have restarted production, but by December 2008, only two of these structures were still producing. Gas structures appear more successful than oil structures in redevelopment and apparently present better economics and production potential. Eleven of the 14 redevelopment plans on leases that contained destroyed infrastructure are for gas structures. We review pre- and post-hurricane production, revenue, and drilling characteristics for the collection of destroyed structures that have been redeveloped and compare against structures that have not submitted redevelopment plans. We present a screening tool to assess the redevelopment potential of producing structures and estimate the percentage of remaining reserves that have been captured during post-hurricane recovery. We estimate that 60% of the 63 MMBOE of reserves impacted by the hurricanes will be recovered. [Received: April 08, 2009; Accepted: May 26, 2009]

Online publication date: Fri, 18-Sep-2009

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