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Hurricane Isaias strengthens to Category 3, oil shut-ins reach 63%
Brokers are putting early insured losses for the storm at $3 billion to $5 billion, as Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery sits in the hurricane warning zone.
Hurricane Isaias intensified into a Category 3 storm on Friday morning, with sustained winds of 120 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was about 240 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, moving north-northeast at 15 mph, and landfall is expected late Friday or early Saturday on the Alabama or northwest Florida coast.
Forecasters expect Isaias to weaken before landfall, with Fox Weather saying it is likely to come ashore as a Category 2 storm between Gulf Shores, Alabama, and Pensacola. The NHC forecast storm surge of up to 9 feet, and storm surge and tropical storm warnings extend west to Louisiana.
The storm disrupted offshore oil production, with producers halting about 1.28 million barrels a day of output by Thursday, close to 63% of the Gulf total, according to the Marine Minerals Administration. The hurricane also put Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery within the hurricane warning area, and brokers are putting early insured losses at $3 billion to $5 billion, according to Insurance Business.