Gulf Of Mexico Oil Drillers Brace For Impact As Hurricane Nears

Tropical storm Laura has strengthened to a hurricane and is expected to grow further before striking the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane. The oil industry has evacuated 299 offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico so far and 11 drilling rigs, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Most of the oil and gas production in the Gulf has been shut in as a result. The oil output shut-in stands at 1.558 million bpd, or 84.3 percent of the total, and the gas output shut-in stands at 1.65 billion cu ft daily, or close to 61…