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US Gulf of Mexico Oil Output Down 28% in Hurricane Aftermath, Interior Department Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - More than 28 percent of oil production from the US Gulf of Mexico, accounting for 525,099 barrels per day, has been shut as a precaution due to last week’s Hurricane Laura, the US Department of Interior said on Tuesday.
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"Approximately 28.38 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut-in", the department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement. "After the storm has passed, facilities will be inspected. Once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back online immediately. Facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back online".

Crude production aside, the storm also idled approximately 24.96 percent of the natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico, the statement said.

Laura, one of the strongest US hurricanes in more than a century, made landfall between east Texas and west Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane at pre-dawn Thursday before turning into a tropical storm.

The storm, which killed at least 16 people and damaged countless property, also scored a near-direct hit on one refinery in Louisiana processing 769,000 barrels per day of crude.

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