Residents flee, oil firms shut offshore production as Storm Francine intensifies

By Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Francine began to rapidly intensify and was expected to produce a dangerous category 2 hurricane, forecasters said, prompting Louisiana residents to flee inland and oil and gas producers to shut-in Gulf of Mexico production.

The storm could wallop the Louisiana coast on Wednesday with life-threatening 100 mile per hour (160 kph) winds, drenching rains and an up to 10-foot storm surge. It is expected to make landfall near Cameron, bringing a major storm test for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants recently built in the region.

Authorities called for a mandatory evacuation of residents in three Louisiana coastal communities, schools were shut and officials distributed sandbags to help protect against flooding.

Energy companies began evacuating offshore workers and shut-in output at several production platforms ahead of the storm. The port of Brownsville, Texas, was closed and others from Corpus Christi north to Galveston had imposed restrictions.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday and natural gas prices fell, both on worries about the production shut-ins and potential impact on gas processing at LNG plants. The region is home to about 15% of U.S. oil production and 2% of natural gas output.

Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron removed offshore staff and halted some oil and gas operations, they said. Exxon cut production at its Hoover oil production facility about 150 miles east of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Chevron withdrew workers from four offshore facilities and halted oil and gas output at two. Shell cut production at one platform, moved workers off three facilities and paused drilling at two.

BP ruled out any major impacts on its offshore facilities, while Woodside Energy and Occidental Petroleum were prepared to take action as needed.

The storm is poised to become a major test for new LNG export plants in Louisiana. Sempra's Cameron LNG, Venture Global LNG's Calcasieu Pass LNG and Tellurian's Driftwood LNG development are in the crosshairs of Francine.

Freeport LNG, which operates the nation's second-largest export plant for the super-chilled gas, said it had begun storm preparations at its Texas plant without providing details.

(Reporting by Georgina McCartney, Marianna Parraga, Curtis Williams; writing by Gary McWilliams; editing by Sonali Paul)