Evacuation orders were passed on some oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico as the tropical storm, Edouard headed for Texas. However latest updates suggest that the storm has already weakened and was not expected to cause a huge damage to the offshore facilities at Galveston, which is the largest petroleum port in the United States.

Speculation that most of the Texas oil facilities would be spared significant damage brought down crude prices for September delivery to $121.41 a barrel. This fall of 3 percent or $3.69 at the New York Stock Exchange was the largest since May 6, this year.

A spokesperson at the US Interior Department notified that six rigs and twenty-three production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico had been asked to evacuate. Some of the companies which have started removing its non-essential workers are Marathon Oil Corp, Anadarko Petroleum Corp and McMoran Exploration Co. the oil import terminal at Louisiana as well as the Houston Ship Channel have been shut down as precautionary measures against the approaching storm.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued an advisory saying that on August 4, 7 p.m Houston time, sustained wind speed of Edouard had come down to 45 mph from the earlier speed of 50mph. as yet, the system was 205 miles east to southeast of Galveston and was moving in a westerly direction at about 7 mph.

-Kalyani Mookherji.