BHP Shuts Down Neptune Oil Project on Hurricane Ike

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia's biggest oil and gas producer, shut the $1.1 billion Neptune oil project in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Ike approaches, about three days after it restarted output following the last storm.

``We have evacuated all non-essential personnel from the Gulf and shut in production at Neptune,'' Emma Meade, a Melbourne-based spokeswoman at BHP, said today by telephone. The project, which started in July, resumed output late Sept. 6 after an earlier shutdown for Hurricane Gustav.


Ike, which killed four people in Cuba and more than 170 in Haiti, may strengthen as it heads for the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the direction of Texas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Neptune, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, has a capacity of 50,000 barrels a day of oil and 50 million cubic feet a day of gas.

BHP is the operator of Neptune and holds a 35 percent stake. Marathon Oil Co. has 30 percent, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. 20 percent and Repsol YPF SA's Maxus (U.S.) Exploration Co. the rest.

Separately, Sydney-based Petsec Energy Ltd. said it was securing platforms and other equipment in the Gulf ahead of Ike and will evacuate offshore workers later today.

``A number'' of the company's offshore production facilities suffered ``minor'' damage from Hurricane Gustav, including the loss of deck grating and stairways at the Main Pass 19 gas project and damage to handrails, ladders and navigational aids at sites at Mobile Bay, Petsec said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net