Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- Offshore drilling at Byron Energy’s (BYE) SM58 project has once again been interrupted, as another hurricane sweeps through the Gulf of Mexico
- As a result, the company is evacuating personnel from the offshore drilling rig but will continue pumping oil and gas from the site’s G1 well
- Earlier this week, all four wells at the company’s majority owned SM71 platform F were shut in, due to pipeline closures related to the storm
- This is the second time tropical storms have interrupted work at the project, following a notably active hurricane season in the Atlantic basin
- Byron Energy closed 1.72 per cent in the green for 29.5 cents per share
Offshore drilling at Byron Energy’s (BYE) SM58 project has once again been interrupted, as another hurricane sweeps through the Gulf of Mexico.
The category two storm, named Hurricane Sally is expected to hit southern US states including Florida, Mississippi and Alabama on Wednesday. Sally is currently one of five tropical storms churning through the Atlantic basic and follows an intensely turbulent hurricane season thus far.
As a result, the company is evacuating personnel from the offshore drilling rig but will continue pumping oil and gas from the site’s G1 well, unless conditions begin to worsen.
Earlier this week, all four wells at the company’s majority-owned SM71 platform F were shut in, due to pipeline closures related to the storm. The company expects to turn the taps back on at SM71 as soon as the storm passes, and the pipelines reopen.
This is the second time this season that tropical storms have interrupted work at the project. Late last month, the company was forced to evacuate the SM58 site and ceased operations at the SM71 F platform as Tropical storms Marco and Laura tore through the Gulf.
However, the company was quick to point that that this latest hurricane is not expected to directly hit the site G platform, and the operational halt is only a cautionary measure.
Maynard Smith, Byron Energy’s CEO, commented on the latest interruption in the Gulf of Mexico.
“It has been an active hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico and once again we have to shut down our drilling operations at SM58. We do not anticipate the storm to directly pass over the SM58 or 71 platforms, but due to the uncertainty of forecast track and out of an abundance of caution we chose to stop work,” he said.
Maynard went on to say that, as the rig was not jacked down, the company will be able to quickly resume drilling the target section of the G2 well, once the poor weather abates.
Byron Energy closed 1.72 per cent in the green for 29.5 cents per share.
