Fuel prices are rising as Hurricane Ike threatens oil refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. <br /><br />Oil refineries shut down in the brunt of what might be the worst storm in Texas in half a century. <br />Gasoline wholesale prices and crude oil futures rose Friday in anticipation of the storm, after oil closed Thursday at a six-month low of $100.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose 21 cents Friday to close at $101.08. <br />Ike, a Category 2 hurricane on Friday, is scheduled to make landfall near Galveston, Texas, early Saturday with winds in excess of 100 mph. <br />Its path was further south and west of Hurricane Rita, which came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane in September 2005, near the Texas-Louisiana border, causing extensive damage to regional refineries and sending diesel and gasoline prices soaring to then-record highs. <br />Forecasters say the 800-mile-wide storm will bring a huge storm surge to Galveston and Houston areas, home to many refineries and petrochemical plants. <br />Gulf Coast refineries represent 23% of domestic oil-processing capacity. About 19% of U.S. refining capacity is being shut down in anticipation of Ike’s landfall. <br />The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the biggest U.S. oil- import terminal, closed its marine operations, as did Port Fourchon, a major intake facility for Gulf oil.
