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Gustav keeps oil price on the rise
Bill Condie, Evening Standard28 Aug 2008
Oil prices rose for a fourth day in a row as New Orleans braced itself to take a possible hit from Tropical Storm Gustav, now heading for the Gulf of Mexico coast.
Brent was up 82 cents to $117.04 and US crude 84 cents higher at $118.99.
Should Gustav build from a storm to a hurricane, it could paralyse 85% of production in key US offshore fields.
It is expected to hit the Gulf Coast around Monday, the first major hurricane to threaten energy installations there since Katrina and Rita devastated the region in 2005.
Weather forecasters say Gustav could strengthen into a Category four or five storm over the Gulf.
Shell Oil, the Gulf of Mexico's largest producer, evacuated all workers from offshore operations and said production would be affected as early today.
That could force companies to draw on oil stocks just as US inventories showed an unexpected 100,000 barrels drop last week.
