Les australiens sont en ce moment confontés à deux cyclones consécutifs interessants, qui perturbent entre autres leur production pétrolière. Comme ceci se produit très loin du Pays des Obèses de l'Ouest, on n'en voit aucune répercussion sur le Nymex.
L'article signale l'île Barrow, important gisement déjà évoqué dans ce fil ; elle se trouve précisément sous le logo du cyclone George.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42320
Australia's Oil, Iron Ore Output Hit by Cyclone George
by Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires FWN Financial News Friday, March 09, 2007
MELBOURNE, Mar 09, 2007 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex)
Australia's oil production has been cut by the storm, with floating production vessels disconnecting from their buoys and sailing out of the path of the cyclone.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) said the production vessel from the Cossack-Pioneer oil field, part of the North West Shelf joint venture, has sailed away as has the vessel at the Legendre oil field. Related Pictures
Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) said the production vessel from the Mutineer-Exeter oil field has disconnected and sailed to calmer waters.
And the production vessel from BHP's Griffin oil field has also ceased production and sailed for shelter.
A second weaker cyclone is now brewing off the coast of Western Australia. Santos, Woodside and BHP are yet to decide when it will be safe to return their production vessels to the oil fields.
Chevron Corp. (CVX) closed the Barrow Island and Thevenard oil fields as the storm approached and a spokesman said they remained shut Friday afternoon.
Two people were killed at a Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU) site south of Port Hedland.
Fortescue said a camp for construction crews working on its Pilbara railway was in the path of the cyclone and extensively damaged Thursday night.
Cyclone George has now been downgraded to category three but the Bureau of Meteorology said destructive wind gusts of up to 165 kilometers an hour are still likely as it tracks inland and slowly weakens.
Australia's iron ore exports are also on hold and oil production has been halved as 275 kilometer an hour wind gusts from Cyclone George shut resource projects and killed two workers.
Mining giants BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto Plc. (RTP) closed ports and mines in the Pilbara region ahead of the storm, which hit the coast of Western Australia Thursday night.
In total, offshore field shutdowns cut Australia's oil output by 49% or 180,600 barrels a day.
A BHP spokeswoman said Port Hedland, the departure point for million of tons of annual iron ore exports to Asia, appears to have suffered minimal damage from the category four cyclone.The most powerful cyclones are ranked category five.
"The harbor and channel will be checked prior to use and it is understood that the port could be opened sometime tomorrow," she said Friday afternoon.
All of BHP's iron ore mines in the region, including the giant Mt Whaleback operation, stopped production and were placed on red alert as the storm moved inland Friday afternoon.
Rio Tinto's iron ore port operations at Dampier and Cape Lambert were also shut in ahead of the storm.
"There was minimal damage and no injuries we are aware of," a spokesman said. The ports were back to normal Friday but the decision has not yet been taken to resume loading ships.
All but one of Rio Tinto's mines in the Pilbara were closed Friday as the storm moved inland.
The miners now face the prospect of flooded mines, although Rio Tinto said so far it has had little rain at its operations.
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