Hurricane Laura strengthened on Wednesday as it churned over evacuated oil-production platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and took aim at the energy industry's refining hub along the Texas/Louisiana coast.
The storm resembles 2005's Hurricane Rita, which caused more than US$18 billion in damages and killed more than 120 people, many during a hurried Texas evacuation. Laura's path spares Houston, the nation's fourth largest city, but bring a deadly combination of 120 mph winds, blinding rainfall and storm surge to the Texas/Louisiana state line, Foerster said.
Already, nine oil-processing plants that convert nearly 2.9 million barrels per day of oil into fuel, and account for about 15per cent of U.S. processing were reducing production or shutting down.