By Dan Molinski
Shell said Thursday it halted activity at several of its offshore oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico due to leaky pipelines, but said it expects to have the pipelines fixed by Friday.
"Shell can confirm that the Mars and Amberjack Pipelines have been shut-in due to a flange leak at the Fourchon booster station," it said in an emailed statement, noting about two barrels of oil leaked, and they have been contained. The Fourchon station is on land along the Louisiana coast.
"Shell personnel are repairing the issue," the company added. "We expect to return both pipelines to service tomorrow, Aug. 12."
As a result of halting flows on the pipelines, Shell said its deepwater oil production platforms in the Mars Corridor -- Mars, Ursa and Olympus -- were also shut-in. It didn't indicate when those may restart.
Oil prices showed little reaction to news of the temporary shut-ins, with WTI crude down 0.4% in early Asia trading at $93.95 a barrel. The market closed Thursday's session up 2.6% at a one-week-high $94.34.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com
