Oil rises as refineries stay shut

Cleaning up after Hurricane Rita is not going to be quick

Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday as many US refineries stayed shut in the wake of Hurricane Rita.

US oil industry data showed crude stocks had fallen since the closures, but some Gulf Coast figures were estimated because of the disruption.

US light crude surged $1.28 to $66.35 a barrel, while Brent crude climbed 96 cents to $63.93 a barrel.

Meanwhile, refined gasoline prices continued to rise and were quoted 12 cents higher at $2.291 per gallon.

In its weekly inventories report, the American Petroleum Institute said crude stocks had fallen by 740,000 barrels as the industry struggled to recover from the impact of two major hurricanes in four weeks.

However, US gasoline stocks unexpectedly rose by 2.2 million barrels as demand fell because of high pump prices.

The institute said some of its respondents in the Gulf of Mexico region had been unable to file reports because of Hurricane Rita. As a result, estimates had been used and figures would be revised later if necessary, it said.

'Heading into winter'

The damage caused by Hurricane Rita is not as bad as first thought, and much less than that wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

Initial optimism that facilities would be back working quickly has faded, however, and it now looks as if it will take weeks.

Several refineries in Texas have restarted after Hurricane Rita

Eight of the refineries shut down last week have begun restarting their operations and are likely to be fully active within days, officials say.

These include Exxon Mobil's 557,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Baytown, near Houston, the largest in the country.

However, 12 other refineries in Texas and Louisiana remain closed.

Valero, the largest US refiner, has warned that its 250,000 barrel-a-day Port Arthur plant in Texas is likely to be closed for up to four weeks.

Total's plant in Port Arthur, which normally produces 233,500 barrels a day, will also be out of action for two weeks to a month.