Half of U.S. Daily Oil Output Still Shut Due to Isaac

U.S. regulators said 51.51 percent of daily oil production and 29 percent of daily natural gas output in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico remained shut on Tuesday due to Hurricane Isaac, whose remnants were moving toward the East Coast.

The amount of shut oil output was down from Monday's 58.29 percent and natural gas production compared with 38.62 percent shut a day earlier.

The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said 710,866 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production was still shut, down from 804,335 bpd on Monday, and 1.309 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day in natural gas output was closed, down from 1.738 bcf per day on Monday.

Those figures are expected to fall in the coming days.

Isaac came ashore as a hurricane on Tuesday night and its slow movement in the following days across Louisiana delayed the restart of production. (Reporting By Erwin Seba; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)