Just as the residents of New Orleans were fleeing for higher ground, workers on oil rigs and manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were being evacuated by air, leaving the energy-refining region with only 4% of its potential output operational.
The oil companies were taking no chances and by as early as Sunday morning almost three-quarters of the oil workers in the Gulf had been evacuated and nearly all of oil and gas production shut down, according to a report from the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which oversees offshore activity.
Some 72% of workers from 717 different platforms, including those owned by oil giants including Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, were predominantly brought ashore on Saturday - presumably far away from the coastline.
About 96% of the 1.3 million barrels of oil produced daily in the Gulf have been cut off - a process that can involve closing safety valves in thousands of feet of water to prevent the release of oil or natural gas. Also, 82% of the natural gas production in the region, which produces around 7.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, was also brought to a standstill. The Federal Bureau reported both of these figures.
ExxonMobil alone shut down production of about 37,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 600 million cubic feet a day of natural gas, according to a report on the company's website.
Although the large-scale evacuation procedure appears to have been a success, Monday’s downgrading in classification of Hurricane Gustav to a category 2 storm - by the National Hurricane Centre - has turned the questions towards when production will be back to optimum levels once again.
The answer, of course, depends upon Gustav’s path and timing through the energy-rich waters of the Gulf, home to 25% of US oil production and 15% of natural gas output. The Gulf Coast accommodates nearly half the nation’s refining capacity.
Frank Glaviano, a Shell vice president who oversees production, said: “It usually takes a couple of days before we can start to get a significant amount of production back up.
“It can take several days for the sub sea wells. Typically, about half of our production comes back rather quickly,” he added.
In the wake of Katrina, in 2005, where some companies took months to fully restore operations once again, logistical systems have been improved to enable a more efficient restart to operations.
Many older platforms that were heavily damaged during Katrina have now been decommissioned, while new more storm resistant platforms have been constructed. More anchor lines have also been installed on rigs and platforms.