BP, BHP, Chevron Texaco evacuate crews from offshore rigs as Ivan nears

BP Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said it evacuated 500 non-essential workers from offshore rigs near Trinidad and Tobago as Hurricane Ivan approached the Caribbean country. BHP Billiton, Australia’s biggest oil and gas company, and BG Group Plc, the UK’s third-largest natural gas producer, also recalled workers. Atlantic LNG Co., the country’s sole liquefied natural gas plant, suspended exports for safety reasons. “We’re hoping that Ivan doesn’t turn out to be terrible,’’ BHP Billiton spokesman Patrick Cassidy said in a telephone interview from Houston. Trinidad and Tobago issued a hurricane alert as the storm approached.

Trinidad has never been hit by a major hurricane, while Tobago’s last hurricane was in 1963. Trinidad and Tobago produces about 120,000 barrels of oil a day and is also the largest supplier of liquefied gas to the US. BP’s evacuation reduced the company’s Trinidad oil output to 30,000 barrels a day from 50,000 barrels a day, spokesman Toby Odone said in a telephone interview. Natural gas production was unaffected as London-based BP left skeletal staffs on the rigs, he said. Robert Riley, Managing Director of bpTT stressed that while the company’s offshore facilities were designed to withstand tropical storm conditions, the company activated its emergency operations to secure all of its staff.

Riley said the 107 “good people offshore” were in constant communication with company officials on land, and communication and support facilities to ensure workers offshore maintained contact with their families, had been set up. Riley said the company also made available one of its large vessels to “provide humanitarian services for residents of Tobago if the need arose.” BHP, which is developing the Angostura offshore field, said it evacuated all non-essential personnel from its two drilling rigs yesterday. “Today, we ceased activities at our onshore terminal site,’’ Cassidy said. The Melbourne-based company still plans to start production from Angostura by the end of the year. ChevronTexaco, the second-largest US oil company, said it evacuated non-essential workers from a gas rig in the Deltana Platform, a tract on Venezuela’s boundary with Trinidad and Tobago, a ChevronTexaco spokeswoman said in a telephone interview in Caracas. The San Ramon, California-based company began drilling in the Deltana Platform last month.

The five-day forecast shows Ivan’s eye moving across Jamaica on Friday, then crossing Cuba to a point somewhere between Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and southwestern Florida early Sunday. British Gas yesterday said all of its land and marine facilities in TT have been secured against the impact of Ivan. In a statement, the company said its incident management team came into effect on Monday and measures had been taken to ensure the safety of its employees, plants and equipment during the passage of the hurricane. BG said only essential staff remained on its Dolphin and Hibiscus platforms located off Trinidad’s east and north coasts respectively.