⁍ BP, Chevron and Equinor evacuated oil workers and Royal Dutch Shell paused drilling.

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⁍ Some oil producers were pulling workers for at least the sixth time since June.

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⁍ Zeta was the third named storm this month to hit Mexico’s Quintana Roo state.

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⁍ A hurricane watch was issued for parts of Louisiana to the Mississippi-Alabama border.

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– Oil and gas firms in the Gulf of Mexico have begun evacuating workers as Hurricane Zeta bears down on the region. BP, Chevron, and Equinor have all evacuated their workers, Reuters reports, while Royal Dutch Shell has halted drilling, and pipeline operator Enbridge has evacuated an offshore platform and plans to remove workers from a Louisiana natural gas processing plant. A hurricane watch has been issued for parts of Louisiana to the Mississippi-Alabama border. Zeta, the 11th hurricane of the season, entered the Gulf yesterday, making it the third named storm of the month to hit Mexico’s Quintana Roo state, setting a new record for the month. On Monday, it became the 11th hurricane of the season, which on average has six. Zeta could hit the US coast on Wednesday at or near hurricane strength, the NHC said. Energy ports from Baton Rouge to Pascagoula were operating under advisories warning of the potential for gale force winds. A Louisiana deep water oil export port said it was implementing its inclement weather plan. Energy producers shut 16%, or 293,656 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 6% of natural gas output, or 162.57 million cubic feet per day, according to data from the US offshore energy regulator. US Gulf of Mexico offshore oil production accounts for about 17% of total US crude oil output and 5% of total US dry natural gas production.