Above-average hurricane activity disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure in 2024

In-brief analysis

December 17, 2024

Data source: Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
Note: Data include production from U.S. Gulf of Mexico fields in federal waters.

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which ran from June 1 through November 30, exhibited above-average activity with more named storms and hurricanes than usual, including several that disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure, primarily on the Gulf Coast and in the Southeast. Energy impacts from hurricanes this season were most notable in electricity markets, although Hurricanes Francine, Helene, and Rafael forced some oil and natural gas production from fields in the Gulf of Mexico to be shut in.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) reported 18 named storms in 2024 (winds of 39 miles per hour [mph] or greater). Eleven of those storms had wind speeds of 74 mph or more, classifying them as hurricanes, and five of those intensified to major hurricanes (winds of 111 mph or greater). Five hurricanes made landfall in the continental United States (Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene, and Milton), with two storms (Helene and Milton) making landfall as major hurricanes. An average hurricane season has 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes, according to NOAA.

Category 3-5 hurricanes
Hurricanes Milton and Helene, major hurricanes (Category 3, 4, or 5) that made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast on September 26 and October 9, respectively, caused major power outages and damage to electricity infrastructure on their paths through Florida to the Appalachian Mountains in states such as Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as disruptions to petroleum product supply chains in Florida.

Category 1-2 hurricanes
Three other named storms (Beryl, Debby, and Francine) made landfall in the United States earlier in the hurricane season as either Category 1 or 2 hurricanes. Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Atlantic Basin Category 5 hurricane on record on July 1, before weakening to a Category 1 hurricane and making landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast, a major hub for the U.S. energy industry, on July 8. Due to the weakening, Hurricane Beryl resulted in minimal effects on the U.S. Gulf Coast oil and natural gas industry. Hurricane Debby, which made landfall on August 5 in the Big Bend area of western Florida, also had minimal effects on the U.S. Gulf Coast oil and natural gas industry.

Impacts on the oil and natural gas industry
The paths of the major hurricanes, Milton and Helene, took them away from the most prolific oil- and natural gas-producing areas near Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, but oil and natural gas companies evacuated some platforms and shut in some production from fields in the Gulf of Mexico as a precautionary measure. Hurricane Rafael in November weakened significantly before reaching the U.S. oil and natural gas production hub in the Gulf of Mexico, allowing offshore producers to quickly return to normal operations.

We estimate that unplanned outages of crude oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico due to storms averaged 295,000 barrels per day (b/d) in September and 110,000 b/d in November, accounting for 16% and 5%, respectively, of total crude oil production from federal Gulf of Mexico waters in those months. Unplanned outages of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico due to storms averaged 0.20 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in September and 0.07 Bcf/d in November, accounting for 11% and 3%, respectively, of total natural gas production from federal Gulf of Mexico waters in those months. We did not register any widespread storm-related outages in October.

Principal contributors: Paul Merolli, Trinity Manning-Pickett, Eulalia Munoz-Cortijo, Kimberly Peterson

Tags: natural gas, weather, liquid fuels, crude oil, oil/petroleum

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