By Jason Scott
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Cyclone Laurence, which caused oil and gas rigs off northwestern Australia to be evacuated this week, may strengthen at the weekend as it leaves land and heads back over the sea, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
The cyclone, which could affect the Kimberley region’s largest town, Broome, has been downgraded to a category one storm, the lowest intensity for a cyclone, the bureau said in a statement issued at 5 a.m. local time today. It is 100 kilometers (62 miles) east southeast of Derby and moving south at 4 kilometers an hour.
“Laurence is expected to weaken below cyclone intensity during this morning and take a more westerly track towards the west Kimberley coast,” the bureau said in the statement. “It is expected to then re-intensify as it moves over open water during the weekend.” All red alerts for the area have been removed, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority said last night.
Laurence, the first cyclone of the season to hit Australia, affected a sparsely populated coastal region with energy and mining projects. Mt. Gibson Iron Ltd. evacuated 220 employees from its Koolan Island facility, with full mining operations not expected to resume until early next week, it said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange today.
Workers Evacuated
HWE Mining Pty Ltd. evacuated workers off Cockatoo Island, where it mines iron ore in partnership with Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.
Karoon Gas Australia Ltd., ConocoPhillips’ partner in an exploration venture off the northwest coast, suspended drilling operations at its Transocean Legend drilling rig due to poor weather caused by the cyclone. Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production Pcl evacuated workers from the Jabiru and Challis fields and shut production.
Northwestern Australia, which accounts for 73 percent of the nation’s natural gas exports and 64 percent of crude oil shipments, may experience six cyclones this season, which runs from November until April, according to an October forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology.
BHP Billiton Ltd., Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Santos Ltd., Australia’s three biggest oil and gas producers, were among companies that halted production at offshore oil fields last season because of cyclones.
Cyclone George in March 2007 caused flooding at Energy Resources of Australia Ltd.’s Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory. That storm killed two workers and injured 16 others at Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.’s iron-ore operation in Western Australia.
Cyclone Tracy, one of the worst natural disasters in Australia’s history, killed 71 people on Christmas Day, 1974 when it struck Darwin, according to the government’s Emergency Management Authority. The storm forced 35,362 of a population of 47,000 to flee, the nation’s biggest peacetime evacuation.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Perth atJscott14@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 17, 2009 20:27 EST
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar