A tropical storm seems to be bearing down on US oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to cut into production has triggered a surge in oil prices over US$54 a barrel on Thursday. An unseasonal rally continued in heating oil prices, indicating that world demand for diesel and jet fuel would trim down inventories ahead of the Northern Hemisphere winter. US oil futures rose to US$54.20 a barrel near the close of trade, while London Brent crude rose to US$53.58 a barrel. Chevron Corp. is in the process of evacuating non-essential oil workers from its offshore installations in the US Gulf as a precaution against Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Worries that Arlene would strengthen on its northern track toward the Gulf Coast, home to major US refineries, were supporting crude oil's gains. The arrival of Arlene refreshes memories of last years Ivan- one of the most devastating hurricanes for the US oil industry, shutting in about 45 million barrels of oil production over five months, damaging platforms and causing undersea mudslides that destroyed pipelines.
10-Jun-05 
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