U.S. oil industry braces for another hurricane hit

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Oil companies shut almost all offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico and began shutting coastal refineries in Texas on Wednesday as the latest hurricane headed toward the key U.S. energy hub.

Oil output from the region, home to a quarter of U.S. crude production, was less than 5 percent of normal as Hurricane Ike approached just over a week after Hurricane Gustav spun through the same area toward Louisian

Some 95.9 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production and 73.1 percent of its 7.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas production was turned off, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Minerals Management Service.

Combined, Gustav and Ike have reduced Gulf production by 14.1 million barrels of oil, 67.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Reuters