Gulf of Mexico oil rig workers missing ahead of Tropical Storm Nate

[News_Editor]

Gulf of Mexico oil rig workers missing ahead of Tropical Storm Nate

2011-09-10 06:17:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- Ten workers have gone missing from an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico as they were being evacuated ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, Mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) said on Friday.

Pemex said in a statement that the workers employed by Houston-based Geokenetics Inc. went missing on Thursday afternoon after they evacuated the Trinity II structure. "Due to weather conditions prevailing in the coast of Tabasco, caused by the storm Nate, the two Pemex-operated boats that are searching for the workers have so far not found anyone," the statement said.

Mexico's National Meteorological Service maintains alert in six states due to heavy rain and strong winds caused by Nate. It has warned of the risk of mudslides in mountainous areas and flooding in low lying areas, and strong winds in the southern states of Veracruz and Tabasco.

The storm remains in the Gulf of Mexico, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Campeche, and is causing intense rainfall in Tabasco, southern Veracruz, northern Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán and northern Oaxaca. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a report on Friday that the storm featured sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) and warned that it could become a hurricane by Saturday.

Forecasters at the NHC have been following the weather system since Tuesday morning when a low pressure area in the southern Gulf of Mexico became better organized. It rapidly strengthened into a tropical storm on Wednesday.

Nate is the fourteenth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, following Tropical Storm Maria which formed in the far eastern Atlantic earlier on Wednesday and is forecast to head towards the Caribbean.

According to figures released last month, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is expecting an above-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. The outlook calls for 14 to 19 named storms, with seven to ten becoming hurricanes and three to five expected to become a major hurricane (category 3 or higher).

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 11 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with peak activity in September.

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