Shell said on Tuesday it has started the process of restoring oil production at its Stones platform as the forecast of a looming major hurricane in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shifted.
Shell had shut down production on Sunday at both the Stones and Appomattox facilities as the second major hurricane in two weeks was predicted to tear through offshore oil producing fields.
Production at Appomattox continued to be curtailed and Shell said there are no further impacts on its other Gulf of Mexico production sites.
"We have completed the removal of non-essential personnel from Appomattox as well as our assets in the Mars Corridor and have safely paused some of our drilling operations," the company said in a statement.
Tropical Storm Helene, currently located about 170 miles (275 km) south-southeast of the western tip of Cuba, has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Wednesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
(Reuters - Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)
