Dean Batters Mexican Oil Industry

Although Hurricane Dean may be weakened, it is still battering evacuated oil rigs in the Bay of Campeche in the heart of Mexico’s energy industry.

Although weakened from its overland journey, Dean has moved over the Bay of Campeche, home to more than 100 oil platforms, three major oil exporting ports and the Cantarell oil field, Mexico’s most productive oil field.

Most of the production remains shut-down. This means that Mexico’s oil output will drop by about 2.6 million barrels a day until August 24, Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said. Calderon ordered the evacuation of almost 20,000 workers from all Petroleos Mexicanos offshore platforms, shutting down 407 offshore wells that account for more than 80 percent of Mexico’s oil production.

“This has an economic impact,” Calderon said at news conference after a two-day summit with U.S. President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Montebello, Quebec. “We’ve saved lives there”.