Crude oil prices rose in the US for the third straight day on fears of tropical storm Gustav hitting the Gulf of Mexico which accounts for more than a fifth of the country’s domestic oil production.

On Tuesday, prices of crude oil for October delivery inched higher by 85 cents or 0.7 percent to settle at $117.12 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The day before, prices had risen by 1 percent or $1.16 to rest at $116.27 a barrel.

The rise in crude prices come in the wake of fears that the tropical storm Gustav will veer towards the Gulf of Mexico after having battered Haiti and already caused five deaths in the small nation. Oil rigs and drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico remained on stand by for necessary evacuations. Transocean Inc, the largest offshore oil drilling company in the world has already began suspending operations and other companies like Royal Dutch Shell are expected to start evacuations of non-essential staff.

By Tuesday night, Gustav had weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm with wind speed of 70 miles an hour. Latest reports from the Hurricane Center at Miami revealed that it was moving at 8 miles per hour in a north westerly direction and was expected to hit Cuba on Wednesday before moving towards the Gulf of Mexico by August 31.