Weather threat to oil supplies

CRUDE oil futures rose as the approach of Hurricane Ivan disrupted production and the arrival of shipments in the Gulf of Mexico, where a quarter of US oil and natural gas is pumped.

Royal Dutch/Shell Group yesterday said it plans to complete evacuations that will idle 272,000 barrels of daily oil output. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the biggest US oil import terminal, said it stopped offloading tankers yesterday.

States along the Gulf receive more than half of US oil imports and are home to 50% of the nation’s refining capacity.