Energy and the story of two Gulfs

It is becoming obvious that we are dependent on two unreliable Gulfs for our energy needs.
Tropical Storm Rita to enter Gulf

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S National Hurricane Center and all major weather models project that Tropical Storm Rita, which is currently battering the central Bahamas, will enter the Gulf of Mexico and threaten the U.S. oil and natural gas facilities later this week.

At 8 a.m. EDT, the center of Rita, which was moving westward at nearly 9 miles per hour, was about 235 miles southeast of Nassau and about 460 miles east-southeast of Key West, Florida.

The storm, which could become a hurricane during the next 24 hours, was currently packing maximum sustained winds near 60 mph.

Seven major weather models, including the NHC's, show the storm, which is taking aim at the Florida Keys, will enter the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall between central Texas and the Florida Panhandle late this week.

Oil Prices Rise Nearly $3 on Storm Fears

NEW YORK - Crude-oil futures rebounded above $65 a barrel Monday amid worries that a storm gaining strength off the Bahamas could hit U.S. oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico later this week.

The rise came as OPEC ministers met to discuss how to relieve price pressures in the oil market.

Benchmark light, sweet crude for October delivery rose $2.80, or more than 4 percent, to $65.80 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, still more than $5 off its all-time high of $70.85 hit briefly on Aug. 30. Nymex crude fell $1.75 on Friday to its lowest closing price since Aug. 5.

Heating oil surged more than 14 cents to $1.98 per gallon, while gasoline rose more than 16 cents to $1.9525.

Is Rita going to be the wake up call I suggested might be needed yesterday? This is about more than what to rebuild where, it is also about our dependence on the "other Gulf" to feed our addiction to oil. The current projected path will take Rita west of where Katrina made land fall but meteorologists are saying there in no reason to believe it won't develop into another category 4 or 5 hurricane over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.