Sept 27 (Reuters) - About 24% of crude oil production

and 18% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was

shut in response to Hurricane Helene, the U.S. Bureau of Safety

and Environmental Enforcement said on Friday.

Oil and natural gas production losses fell for the second

consecutive day after reaching a peak of 511,000 barrels on

Wednesday.

Energy producers had shut in 427,000 barrels per day of oil

production and nearly 343 million cubic feet of natural gas from

Gulf waters, the bureau said.

Nine oil and gas platforms had been evacuated as of Friday,

about 2.4% of the Gulf of Mexico total, the offshore regulator

said, citing reports from producers.

The hurricane caused U.S. offshore oil and gas producers

to lose 1.66 million barrels of oil and 1.23 billion cubic feet

of gas due to shut-ins that began on Tuesday, according to a

Reuters tally of BSEE daily estimates.

Oil and gas producers began shutting in offshore

production on Tuesday, as Helene moved through the U.S. Gulf of

Mexico.

Chevron ( CVX )

said

on Friday it had begun to redeploy personnel and restore

production at company-operated platforms in the aftermath of the

hurricane.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 15% of all

domestic oil production and 2% of natural gas output, federal

data showed.