Double trouble

OIL AND GAS operators in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) were still licking their wounds from Hurricane Katrina in late August when another, even stronger, storm started heading their way, reports Anne Feltus, from Houston.

One of the most intense hurricanes ever to enter the GoM, Rita generated winds as high as 175 miles an hour as it swept across the region at the end of September. Katrina inflicted tremendous damage, but Rita took a greater toll on this offshore basin, which accounts for about a quarter of the country's petroleum production. As Rita approached, oil and gas activity came to a standstill as operators evacuated more than 950 manned platforms and rigs in the GoM as a precautionary measure. When the seas settled and they began assessing the damage, they discovered that 63 platforms and a jack-up drilling rig had been demolished by the storm. Most of the facilities, which had been built before the