Hurricane drives up oil prices

Crude oil futures surged past $70 a barrel for the first time today as Hurricane Katrina headed toward the heart of US oil and refinery operations in the Gulf of Mexico, shutting down an estimated one million barrels of refining capacity.

The storm was advancing on an area crucial to the US energy infrastructure - offshore oil and gas production, import terminals, pipeline networks and numerous refining operations in the southern states of Louisiana and Mississippi.