Chevron, BP evacuate some Gulf workers ahead of Tropical Storm Bertha

Chevron and BP evacuated some of their staff from platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico this week as Tropical Storm Bertha approached the region.

Chevron said on July 20 that it had shut in production at its Petronius platform and that all personnel associated with the facility had been moved onshore. Production from all other platforms operated by Chevron in the Gulf remained at normal levels. However, the supermajor added that it had also transported non-essential personnel from its Tubular Bells and Blind Faith platforms, while its onshore facilities were following storm preparedness procedures.

On July 21, BP confirmed to Upstream that it had removed some non-essential workers from its Thunder Horse and Na Kika platforms ahead of the storm.

Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall in Louisiana on July 22. As of July 23, there had been no further updates from either Chevron or BP, but the overall disruption to their operations is expected to be minor. No damage had been reported and no other operators had reported shut-ins.

This will come as a relief after a model forecast from consulting firm Earth Science Associates showed that about 2mn barrels of oil production could be disrupted by the storm. This would have represented a significant increase from the 10,000 barrels disrupted by Tropical ‌Storm ⁠Arthur in June. The forecast came because Tropical Depression Two – which then strengthened into Tropical Storm Bertha – had more higher-producing oil platforms in its path, Earth Science Associated told Reuters earlier this week.

There were also warnings that Bertha could disrupt operations at LNG facilities on the Gulf Coast after it made landfall and moved west from Louisiana to Texas. However, disruptions to these facilities also appear to have been avoided.

The US’ National Hurricane Center and Colorado State University have predicted fewer storms than average during the 2026 hurricane season. This has been attributed in part to a strong El Niño. However, there have also been warnings that warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Atlantic can increase the likelihood of stronger storms developing.

Bertha is only the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Oil and gas producers in the Gulf will be watching the weather closely, as every hurricane season brings with it the risk of severe damage and disruption.