Before of the depression's development, several oil and gas companies removed unneeded workers from offshore oil platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico; the Shell Oil Company evacuated about 700 employees, while Noble Energy removed its workforce of about 300 people from two oil rigs. Exxon Mobil stopped its production by about 1,000 barrels of oil and 55,000 ft³ (1,500 m³). With 27.7% of the daily crude oil production stopped because of the depression, oil prices rose higher after days of increasing levels, and on September 20 reached a record rate of over $84 per barrel.