⁍ Energy firms and ports along the U.S. Gulf Coast prepared for another test.

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⁍ Hurricane Zeta, the 11th hurricane of the season, entered the Gulf of Mexico.

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

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– Energy firms and ports along the Gulf Coast prepared for another test as Hurricane Zeta, the 11th hurricane of the season, entered the Gulf of Mexico. BP, Chevron, and Royal Dutch Shell, among others, evacuated 157 offshore facilities and sharply cut production, Reuters reports. Pipeline operator Enbridge evacuated two platforms and removed workers from a Louisiana natural gas processing plant. Some oil producers were pulling staff for at least the sixth time since June, a process made more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic with workers required to be tested for the virus before returning to work. Energy producers on Tuesday shut nearly half the region’s oil output, or 914,811 barrels per day, and 1.5 billion cubic feet per day, or more than half its natural gas output, the US offshore energy regulator said. 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. Zeta’s winds decreased to 65 miles per hour after sweeping across the Yucatan Peninsula early today but are forecast to restrengthen to 85mph as its churns over the central Gulf of Mexico, the NHC said in a mid-day update. On Monday, it became the 11th hurricane of the Atlantic season, which on average has six. A hurricane watch was issued for parts of Louisiana to the Mississippi-Alabama border by the US National Hurricane Center. Zeta could hit the US coast on Wednesday at or near hurricane strength.