Hurricane Gustav is coming - have you filled up your car, stocked up on food (even if you like in Perth, Australia)

It may sound crazy, but the oil price kite has been held down by a thread. By finely balancing rickety supply with surging demand. A storm like this, in the same way that it can cut through oil production platforms - especially deep water tethers - can hurt supply enough, in one blow, to send oil prices through the roof.

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com Different type of platforms/rigs used in the Gulf and how they are secured. In lay terms, platforms in shallower water are fixed securely to the sea floor. The floating drilling rigs and production platforms in deeper water are tethered or moored -- as in conventional ships -- to the sea floor. (Credit: Image courtesy of Rice University) “If one major deep-water production platform is destroyed, you’re talking about a $1 billion or more loss,” Nagarajaiah said. “If it’s multiple rigs and platforms in a variety of water depths, then we’re talking billions of dollars.” When Katrina and Rita struck, gas prices soared as a result of damage to oil facilities. With oil prices at all-time highs this year, U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has a direct impact on gasoline prices.