Hurricane Ike Heads Toward Texas, Strengthens in Gulf

By Brian K. Sullivan

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ike, forecast to strengthen today, churned across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas, prompting President George W. Bush to declare an emergency for the state and oil companies to shut offshore platforms.

Texas Governor Rick Perry readied 1,350 buses to evacuate residents in preparation for Ike's landfall, expected north of Corpus Christi on Sept. 13. As many as 7,500 National Guard members are on standby for rapid deployment, the governor's office said.

``This is going to be a major threat for coastal Texas,'' said Eric Wilhelm, a senior meteorologist for private forecaster AccuWeather.com in State College, Pennsylvania.

Ike's eye was estimated to be about 645 miles (1,040 kilometers) east of Brownsville, Texas, and moving west- northwest at 9 miles an hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 1 a.m. Houston time today. It strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 100 mph, up from 80 mph yesterday.

The hurricane center said Ike may become a ``major hurricane,'' meaning a Category 3 storm with wind speeds of at least 111 mph, as early as today. The storm is forecast to sweep through the center of the Gulf, missing the offshore Louisiana oil and natural gas fields. The Gulf is home to about a quarter of U.S. oil production.

`Large and Dangerous'

``I cannot rule out Ike becoming a very large and dangerous Category 4 hurricane,'' said Jim Rouiller, a meteorologist with Planalytics Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania, referring to the second-strongest storms on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, which pack winds from 131 to 155 mph.

Officials in Corpus Christi, a city of about 277,000 people, yesterday advised people to evacuate. The city last called for an evacuation in 2005, when Hurricane Rita threatened to strike.

Voluntary evacuations are also in effect for Galveston, San Patricio, Aransas and Victoria counties and parts of Jackson County. Officials have ordered mandatory evacuations for Brazoria and parts of Matagorda County, according to Perry's office.

The potential for destruction from Hurricane Ike has caused refiners to begin shutting plants near Houston and producers to evacuate platforms in the Gulf.

Some rigs, refineries and platforms shut down by Hurricane Gustav last week are staying closed. Gulf operators have evacuated personnel from 63 percent of the production platforms, the Minerals Management Service said yesterday.

Refineries in Corpus Christi process more than 586,000 barrels of crude a day, representing about 3.7 percent of U.S. capacity, according to Energy Department data.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the biggest U.S. oil- import terminal handling 13 percent of imports, said it closed marine operations because of Ike.

Crude oil for October delivery rose as much as $1.37, or 1.3 percent, to $103.95 a barrel. It was at $103.50 a barrel at 11:49 a.m. Singapore time on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net