Category 3 Hurricane Helene nears landfall, disrupts energy infrastructure

As of 8:00 a.m. eastern time on September 26, Hurricane Helene was expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle late Thursday with sustained winds of 115 miles per hour, creating the potential for significant disruptions to energy infrastructure. Hurricane Helene is the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States this hurricane season. The other three named storms that made landfall so far this hurricane season (Beryl, Debby, and Francine) were either Category 1 or 2 hurricanes.

Hurricane Helene’s forecasted path toward the Florida Big Bend coast takes it away from the most prolific oil and natural gas-producing areas near Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

However, trade press reports indicate that earlier in the week multiple companies including bp, Chevron, Equinor, and Shell evacuated staff at offshore oil platforms and paused some production in the Gulf of Mexico. Data compiled by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) indicate that 29% of oil production (511,000 barrels per day) and 17% of natural gas production (313 million cubic feet per day) on offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were shut in as of 12:30 p.m. eastern time on September 25. Personnel have been evacuated from 17 production platforms, nearly 5% of the 371 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. Coast Guard reports several ports along the Gulf Coast are closed. Inbound and outbound vessel traffic to Port Tampa Bay, where over 17 million tons of petroleum- and natural gas-related products move through in a typical year, has ceased. The duration of the port closures and impacts from Hurricane Helene on trade movements for petroleum and natural gas remain uncertain.

High winds, flooding, and storm surge from Hurricane Helene might affect energy infrastructure such as power plants as well as power transmission and distribution lines. Utilities in Florida are preparing for high volumes of power outages.

To help analysts assess potential energy-related storm effects, EIA maintains energy disruption maps that display energy infrastructure and real-time storm information.