Gulf Oil Rigs Evacuated as Hurricane Gustav Strengthens
Workers evacuated offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico Friday as Hurricane Gustav strengthened, potentially threatening the same region that Hurricane Katrina devastated three years ago, news reports said.
Gustav, which became a hurricane Tuesday but was downgraded to a tropical storm the past few days as it brushed land in Haiti and Jamaica, was upgraded to a hurricane Friday afternoon, the Associated Press reported.
Crude oil fell 13 cents Friday to $115.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Workers for Chevron Corp. removed workers from oil and natural gas rigs in the Gulf in advance of Gustav’s arrival into the Gulf, Bloomberg reported.
Weather forecasters said Gustav could enter the Gulf by Sunday, with potential landfall on the Gulf Coast anywhere between Texas and the Florida panhandle by early Tuesday, AP said.
Hurricane Katrina made landfall near New Orleans three years ago Friday, on Aug. 29, 2005, damaging oil rigs and crimping refineries in Texas and Louisiana, leading to big spikes in diesel and gasoline prices.
