Oil producers prepare for Gustav (NYT)

Oil producers have begun to halt drilling and operations in the Gulf of Mexico, anticipating that Tropical Storm Gustav could pick up speed as it feeds on warm waters over the next several days. - NYT

clipped from www.nytimes.com BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell and Transocean, a large drilling contractor, have begun evacuating hundreds of workers from rigs and production platforms in deep waters of the Gulf. “We’re planning for a major hurricane in the Gulf, and we are taking appropriate steps,” a ConocoPhillips spokesman, Bill Tanner, said. Overnight, the storm moved south toward Jamaica with 70 mile-an-hour winds, meaning that oil and gas companies may have an extra day or two to prepare. It could regain hurricane strength by the end of the day. Final landfall could come anywhere from South Texas to the Florida panhandle. The Energy Department said the government was prepared to release crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the event Gustav disrupted production, as it had after the 2005 hurricanes.