Oil Energy Thread (oih)

[madrose1]

Crude Oil Falls on Signs Storm May Miss Gulf Production Areas

By Gavin Evans

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell in New York on signs a tropical storm in the Caribbean is headed toward Florida, missing the main oil and gas producing regions in the Gulf of Mexico.

ConocoPhillips, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc evacuated non-essential personnel from some rigs and platforms in the Gulf at the weekend. Tropical Storm Ernesto, downgraded from a hurricane yesterday, may come ashore in southern Florida on Aug. 30, the National Hurricane Center said in a forecast issued at 5 p.m. New York time.

Crude oil for October delivery fell as much as 60 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $71.91 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 8:07 a.m. in Sydney. Prices are 9 percent higher than a year ago.

The contract rose 15 cents to close at $72.51 a barrel on Aug. 25 after earlier reaching $73.75, the highest intraday price since Aug.16.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at [e-mail]