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By Eduard Gismatullin
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The International Energy Agency raised its forecast for Gulf of Mexico oil production loss to as much as 100,000 barrels a day in 2011 because of BP Plcfs crude spill and subsequent deepwater drilling ban.
The Macondo spill will curb Gulf output by 60,000 barrels a day this year, Paris-based IEA said today in its monthly report. The agency has doubled its estimate from last month, when it also said the reduction may increase to 100,000 barrels to 300,000 barrels a day in 2015.
The new gvolume is based on the assumption that a handful of identified projects will be delayed by 6]12 months,h the IEA said without providing an update on 2015 guidance. gHaving said that, relative to total offshore Gulf of Mexico production, the impact is still relatively small.h
President Barack Obamafs commission, which is investigating BPfs oil spill, the worldfs largest accidental leak, has asked the administration if a temporary ban on deep-water drilling should be lifted for certain rigs. The six-month moratorium has been criticized by the industry and some lawmakers because of lost business and rising unemployment in the Gulf coast states.
Marathon Oil Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. energy producer, was the latest of Gulf oil producers starting a new project after it announced July 19 the first pumping at its deepwater Droshky project. The pumping may peak at about 51,000 barrels of crude equivalent a day, the company said in November.
--Editors: Raj Rajendran, Will Kennedy.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at egismatullin@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net
