Apache Corporation said yesterday that it began shutting in production in portions of the Gulf of Mexico Saturday in advance of Hurricane Katrina. Currently, the company has shut-in gross operated volumes of approximately 70,000 barrels of oil and 565 million cubic feet of gas per day in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore Louisiana.

A total of 336 of Apache's 386 structures in the Gulf of Mexico are shut in and the storm is now affecting onshore facilities. Later today, Apache expects to begin repopulating structures in the Gulf west of Lafayette, La., outside the main path of the storm. The company declined to speculate on damage or a timetable for restoring production.