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Mumbai: Oil rose by $2 to near $118 a barrel yesterday, as Tropical Storm Gustav was poised to enter the Gulf of Mexico, raising concerns about its impact on US offshore oil and gas output.
Energy companies braced for Gustav, shutting down production and evacuating workers from rigs. The Gulf of Mexico is home to a quarter of US crude oil production and 15 per cent of its natural gas output.
Crude for October delivery rose $2.12 to $117.71 barrel by 1353 GMT, paring Thursday's loss of $2.56 when the authorities pledged to release emergency stockpiles if Gustav disrupts US oil output.
London Brent crude rose $1.78 to $115.95 a barrel.
Tropical Storm Gustav is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane by today as it nears the Gulf of Mexico.
Gustav, about 85 miles west of Kingston, Jamaica, was packing winds near 65 miles per hour. When winds reach 74 mph the storm will regain hurricane strength as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast likely on Tuesday, according to forecast tracks.
Key areas
The tracks show the storm marching through key oil and gas producing areas of the Gulf of Mexico as a powerful Category 3 hurricane, with winds between 111 and 130 mph.
As Gustav churned through the Caribbean, another storm - Hanna - formed in the Atlantic Ocean, on a path that could threaten the Bahamas and Florida, the US National Hurricane Centre said.
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