Royal Dutch Shell PLC said on its Web site that two of its drilling rigs equipped with tracking devices had "drifted off location." The company said it would send aircraft to check the status of its assets "as soon as it is safe to do so."

Also Monday, several refiners said damage at their plants appeared to be minimal and oil prices eased from the day's high of $70.80 a barrel. But if a bleaker picture emerges in the days ahead – it may take more time to assess damage, depending on how rough the seas are – prices could run-up once again, analysts said.

Based on conversations with oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf, Goldstein said it appeared that Katrina would not curb output for as long as last year's Hurricane Ivan, even though the short-term impact was significant.

The federal Minerals Management Service said Monday that 92 percent of the region's oil output was shut-in, with more than 3 million barrels of production lost since Friday. The agency said 83 percent of natural gas output was shut-in, resulting in a loss of 15.5 billion cubic feet of lost production since Friday.

The Gulf of Mexico normally produces 2 million barrels of crude oil a day, or about 35 percent of the United States' domestic output, according to government and industry data. About 10 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas is produced in the region.

Wholesale gasoline prices in the New York and Gulf Coast markets soared by 25-35 cents a gallon on Monday following reports that more than 8 percent of U.S. refining capacity had been shut down as a precaution ahead of the storm. One analyst said pump prices nationwide would likely average more than $2.75 a gallon by week's end, up from about $2.60 a gallon Monday.

"Unfortunately, I don't think $3 a gallon is a hyperbolic number in some markets anymore," said analyst Tom Kloza of Wall, N.J.-based Oil Price Information Service. He emphasized that the market reaction is a reflection of supply tightness, not shortages.

Natural gas futures briefly surged more than 20 percent after the temporary closure of a critical distribution hub and on concerns that power outages and flooding could prevent processors from running their plants for days, if not weeks. Even before Katrina arrived, the Energy Department had warned consumers who rely on natural gas to heat their homes to expect sharply higher bills this winter.

On Monday, Puget Sound Energy of Bellevue, Wash., filed a request with state regulators to pass through higher natural gas costs to its customers, and analysts said more such requests were likely around the country.

Katrina hit an area crucial to the U.S. energy infrastructure – offshore oil and gas production, import terminals, pipeline networks and numerous refining operations in the southern states of Louisiana and Mississippi.

On Wall Street, companies that ferry workers to and from offshore oil platforms, as well as those that provide other support services to the industry, saw their stock prices rise. Shares of Offshore Logistics Inc. climbed 1.96, or 6 percent, to close at $34.41 on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares of Oceaneering International Inc. rose by $1.80, or 4.3 percent, to $44.

Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and others began evacuating workers from the region over the weekend. The government said 615 platforms and 96 rigs were evacuated. As a precaution, refineries capable of processing some 1.6 million barrels a day were closed, while others reduced their production levels. Sabine Pipe Line LLC on Sunday shut down the Henry Hub, a natural gas distribution center that connects to interstate pipelines; the hub was reopened by Monday afternoon.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the largest oil import terminal in the United States, evacuated all workers and stopped unloading ships on Saturday. Any significant damage to the port would have a devastating impact, analysts said.

With top winds of 145 mph, Katrina passed just to the east of New Orleans as it moved inland and later dropped to a 105-mph Category 2 storm, sparing this vulnerable city its full fury.

"The damage to the electric power grid is the most important source of damage to consider in evaluation of the impact of Hurricane Katrina," said energy analyst Dan Lippe of Petral Worldwide in Houston.

Lippe said the operations of oil refiners, natural gas processors and chemical manufacturers could be disrupted for as little as a few days or as long as a few weeks.

Light sweet crude for October delivery settled at $67.20 a barrel, an increase of $1.07. Crude futures settled at $67.49 last Thursday, the highest closing price since oil began trading on Nymex in 1983.

Oil prices would need to rise to about $90 a barrel to match the highs of 25 years ago, when adjusted for inflation.

Gasoline futures zoomed 13.37 cents to $2.0606 a gallon on Nymex, but on spot markets in New York and the Gulf Coast, prices were as much as 8 cents to 15 cents higher, according to Kloza. Nymex heating oil futures rose by 7.22 cents to $1.9088 a gallon.

Brent crude was not trading Monday, with London's International Petroleum Exchange closed for a bank holiday.

Hurricane Ivan damaged seven platforms, 100 underwater pipelines and resulted in the loss of nearly 44 million barrels of oil production between September 2004 and February 2005.

 

Associated Press Writers George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, Gillian Wong in Singapore and Justin Bachman in New York contributed to this report.

 

 

www.ea.doe.gov/hurricanes.html

 

© Copyright 2005 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.