Personnel have been evacuated from a total of 129 production platforms, 34.77% of the 371 manned platforms in the Gulf of America, the Marine Minerals Administration said, based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:00 a.m. CDT Friday. [E1][E2]
Eight of 11 non-dynamically positioned rigs currently operating in the Gulf had personnel taken off. [E2]
As part of the evacuation process, personnel activate the applicable shut-in procedure, which can frequently be accomplished from a remote location. [E3]
This paper's 8 October file had Hurricane Isaias still on a northern-Gulf track, before Friday's operator reports.
As of 4:00 a.m. central time on 9 October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects Hurricane Isaias to make landfall on the Gulf Coast late Friday or early Saturday, creating the potential for significant disruptions to energy infrastructure, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. [E4]
Hurricane Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season and will be the largest storm system to make landfall in the region since Hurricane Helene in September 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. [E5]
Crude oil and natural gas production in the region has already been impacted by Hurricane Isaias's forecasted path toward the Gulf Coast, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. [E6]
Isaias strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane on Friday morning as it barreled toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, where states of emergency have been declared in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, The Guardian reported. [E7]
Officials said the hurricane is expected to cause a "life-threatening storm surge", with surging seas up to 7ft and waves as high as 30ft, The Guardian reported. [E8][E10]
The NHC said, The Guardian reported, that preparations should be rushed to completion as the weather will go downhill quickly today. "While the storm is not expected to make landfall at peak intensity, it is likely that Isaias will still be a significant hurricane when it reaches the coast." [E9]
Days ago, the oil industry around the U.S. Gulf Coast started preparing, KNBA reported. [E11]
A segment of the nation's oil infrastructure — like oil rigs and platforms — operates in the region, although the majority of it is further west, towards western Louisiana and Texas, KNBA reported. [E11]
Bryan Domangue, the Gulf of America region director for the federal Marine Minerals Administration, who oversees offshore oil and natural gas production, told KNBA the storm was "making a swooping turn, almost just to the east of where the most significant infrastructure is." "At this point, it's swept just a little south of some of our major deepwater oil and gas facilities, and then it's hugging the eastern boundary of where the infrastructure is." [E12]
Production platforms remain in the same location throughout a project's duration, unlike drilling rigs, which typically move from location to location. [E2]