It's a plot!

I swear...it's like someone is out to get us.

Lasting damage to vital U.S. oil and refining assets would further strain an industry that has struggled to keep up with two years of rapidly rising oil demand.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it had received early reports of oil platforms adrift in the gulf. Shell Oil said Monday two of its drilling rigs under contract had drifted off location following the storm.

"Nobody knows the full extent of the damage," said Marshall Steeves, analyst at Refco Group. "The speculation is that it will be worse than Ivan but we won't really know for days, until oil companies get personnel out there and survey the damage."

Hurricane Ivan last September wiped out a total of around 45 million barrels of U.S. oil output over six months.

On Monday afternoon, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said that more than 90 percent of the gulf's oil production and 83 percent of its gas output was shut.

"The price floor for the market will be higher than it was before Katrina," said Frederic Lasserre of SG Commodities.