The Royal Dutch Shell logo is seen at a Shell petrol station in London, UK, January 31, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo
NEW YORK, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A damaged oil pipeline component that disrupted output at several offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms was repaired late Friday, a Louisiana official said, with producers moving to reactivate some of the halted production.
A failed flange connecting two onshore pipelines operated by Shell Plc (SHEL.L) in Louisiana leaked an estimated two barrels of oil. The oil, which spilled onto an area covered with gravel, has been removed, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, and the flange had been repaired by Friday evening, he said.
The spill halted operation of two pipelines that bring oil from several production facilities off the Louisiana coast, curtailing about 600,000 barrels per day of output from Shell, Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Equinor (EQNR.OL), according to two people familiar with offshore operations.
On Friday evening, the Amberjack and Mars pipelines that were stopped by the leak were back online and returning to normal service, after crews completed the repairs at the Fourchon booster station, Shell spokesperson Cindy Babski said.
Shell is also in the process of ramping up production at its three platforms that deliver Mars sour crude, an oil grade popular with refiners in the United States and Asia, Babski added.
Chevron, which had three production facilities shut by the leak, said it is ramping up production at its Jack/St. Malo, Tahiti and Big Foot platforms. Equinor's Titan platform was also disrupted.
Mars crude oil prices had initially strengthened to about a 50-cent discount to U.S. crude oil futures on news of the leak on Thursday, but eased to trade at a midpoint of a $1.40 discount on Friday as the outage appeared short-lived.
Crude oil futures prices slipped by about 2%, also on expectations that supply disruptions caused by pipeline outages would be short-lived.
International benchmark Brent crude futures fell $1.45, or 1.5%, to settle at $98.15 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed down $2.25, or 2.4%, at $92.09 a barrel. [O/R]
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
U.S. regulators raised doubts about Cheniere Energy's decision to install higher-polluting gas-fired turbines at its Gulf Coast liquefied natural gas terminals in Texas and Louisiana years before they began operating, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.