CAMPECHE, Mexico, (Reuters) – Tropical depression Alex moved into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, prompting the closure of two key Mexican oil ports and was likely to regain storm status today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was not an imminent threat to oil-siphoning efforts at BP Plc’s blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Saturday.
But Shell Oil Co shut subsea production at the Auger and Brutus platforms in the Gulf due to the storm threat. On Saturday, it evacuated non-essential workers from production platforms and drilling rigs in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico oilfields.
The Mexican government kept the ports of Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas, which handle 80 percent of all its export shipping in the Gulf of Mexico, closed on Sunday afternoon citing bad weather and strong surf in the area.
State-run oil giant Pemex said its platforms in the Campeche Sound were working normally and there was no evacuation plan yet ahead of the arrival of Alex.
