Gulf Coast hurricanes and their impact on offshore oil production.

We have been hearing in recent months of Hurricane Katrina and of the damage it caused on- and offshore. The Gulf of Mexico has a long history of hurricanes. This first recorded hurricane in the Gulf was in 1527, at which time Spanish conquistadors were exploring there. Five vessels bearing conquistadors encountered a hurricane and were, in the words of one historian, ‘tossed like driftwood’. The first Gulf hurricane in the 20th Century hit Texas in September 1900 and claimed 6000 lives. This hurricane was never assigned a name but is simply referred to as the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. There is a well known picture of the wrecked Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Galveston Island in which 400 people spent the night during the hurricane and thereby survived.