HOUSTON, May 29 (UPI) -- Still not back to full strength after last year's storms, the energy industry in the Gulf of Mexico is busy making preparations for hurricane season this week.
Transocean, which owns deepwater drilling rigs, is upgrading the mooring systems that keep the rigs fastened in place, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday. Instead of the traditional eight-point mooring system, the company is moving up to a 12-point mooring system at a cost of about $7 million per rig.
Exxon Mobil Corp. says it has procured an additional 130 portable generators critical to running gasoline terminals and pipelines in the aftermath of a major storm.
At Royal Dutch Shell, it took 1 million man-hours to repair one large platform after last summer's storm season.
Federal officials report production is still 22 percent behind for crude oil and 13 percent of natural gas in the Gulf.
Hurricane season begins Thursday and runs through the end of November.
