Four large deep water platforms accounting for about 10 percent of the pre-storm federal offshore Gulf oil production suffered extensive damage which could take up to three to six months to bring back on line,
Despite this damage, about 90 percent of Gulf oil production could return to the market in one month, if refineries, processing plants, pipelines and other onshore infrastructure are in operation to receive, prepare and transport it to the consumer.
Although Hurricane Katrina moved through a core area of offshore operations and damaged many production and exploration facilities, early reports indicate that the vast majority of facilities could be ready to come back on line in days and weeks, rather than months,
All safety systems worked to successfully shut down production on the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) platforms,