Oil cos begin shutting Gulf output ahead of Ike

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Energy companies began shutting production on Monday as Hurricane Ike threatened to cross the U.S. offshore oil patch before output shut by Hurricane Gustav last week could be restored.

The one-two punch from Gustav and Ike will likely carve deeply into U.S. energy inventories in the coming weeks, potentially raising fuel prices as the source of a quarter of domestic crude and 15 percent of its natural gas lies dormant for a fresh blow of high winds and waves.

Leading producer Shell, along with Conoco, Anadarko, Apache and Marathon said they were evacuating workers ahead of Ike, which could hit the Gulf Coast by this weekend.

Reuters