NEW ORLEANS - By Wednesday, Hurricane Isaac had lost enough steam to become a tropical storm,
packing enough punch to still cause power outages and flooding but doing little
damage to offshore oil rigs and refineries, Reuters reports. U.S. crude oil
futures plummeted 84 cents to reach $95.49 per barrel and gasoline futures
dropped 0.7% on Wednesday as a result of the downgraded storm.
"The rigs offshore should
be up in about a week," predicted energy expert Kenneth Medlock with Rice
University's Baker Institute. "The offshore facilities should be okay with
regard to major damage ... I would not expect a prolonged production outage."
"After a flyover inspection in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell will likely restart its oil platforms today. BP
and Chevron will wait for clearer weather before sending in inspection crews to
its offshore rigs.
As of Wednesday morning, 95% of oil and 72% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico stayed
offline. Isaac shut down around 5.5% of the U.S. total refining capacity. Gulf Coast refineries provide 45% of U.S. crude processing capacity.
Meanwhile, convenience
stores along the storm€™s path continue to assist their communities with
needed food, ice and fuel.
NACS Resource: Hurricane and Retail Fuel Prices: When hurricanes disrupt power and refinery production on the Gulf Coast,
shortages of gasoline and other motor fuels products can develop more than a
thousand miles away. Read
more.