Sept 24 (Reuters) - Shell said on Tuesday it

has started the process of restoring oil production at its

Stones platform as the forecast of a looming major hurricane in

the U.S. Gulf of Mexico shifted.

Shell had

shut down

production on Sunday at both the Stones and Appomattox

facilities as the second major hurricane in two weeks was

predicted to tear through offshore oil producing fields.

Production at Appomattox continued to be curtailed and Shell

said there are no further impacts on its other Gulf of Mexico

production sites.

"We have completed the removal of non-essential personnel

from Appomattox as well as our assets in the Mars Corridor and

have safely paused some of our drilling operations," the company

said in a statement.

Tropical Storm

Helene

, currently located about 170 miles (275 km) south-southeast

of the western tip of Cuba, has maximum sustained winds of 45

mph (75 km/h) and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by

Wednesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.