Workers from more than 70 percent of the platforms and rigs in the Gulf were evacuated as Gustav approached. All of the area's 1.3 million barrels a day of oil and 7.06 billion cubic feet of gas, 95 percent of the total, was shut. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and ConocoPhillips said they were inspecting offshore U.S. Gulf platforms today.
"The absence of serious structural damage from Gustav when the market was braced for the worst has caused prices to turn decisively downwards,'' said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Bache Commodities Ltd. in London.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on Monday that Exxon Mobil would ask for crude oil from the U.S. emergency supply on Tuesday and Shell Oil was expected to make a similar request.