Shell announced on Wednesday that it had safely paused some drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Beryl was preparing to deliver a massive blow to Jamaica, Reuters reported, noting that so far no impact on GOM production had been noted. 

On Wednesday, Shell said it had begun evacuating non-essential crew at its Perdido asset in the Gulf of Mexico, as it launched the process of shutting in oil production under the threat of Hurricane Beryl, which reached a Category 5 level earlier in the day, according to Reuters. 

After Shell’s Stones development, Perdido is the second-deepest oil and gas production hub in the world. Perdido, moored in the US Gulf of Mexico at around 2,450 meters (8,000 feet) of water, began operations in 2010 and paved the way for future developments in deep-water oil and gas recovery.

As a warning of the weather-related threats to the country’s oil and energy production, the National Weather Service has upgraded Hurricane Beryl to a Category 5 storm, the earliest hurricane to ever obtain such a designation.

On Monday, the rising intensity of the storm had oil markets on edge, boosting U.S. crude benchmark prices to a two-month high. On Tuesday, Senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya from Swissquote Bank said in a note to clients that while Beryl may not immediately impact operations in the Gulf of Mexico, it could potentially cause disruptions later in the week.

In Washington, there is cause for concern that Hurricane Beryl could lead to disruption that would drive U.S. gasoline prices, which could damage the Biden administration ahead of November presidential elections.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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