By Erwin Seba 2 hours, 50 minutes ago HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. energy companies shut nearly all offshore Gulf oil and gas production and raced to bring down flood-prone Louisiana refineries on Sunday ahead of Hurricane Gustav, which threatens to rival the wrath of 2005's Katrina.Gustav is set to hit the Louisiana coast west of New Orleans on Monday morning as a Category 3 hurricane with wind speeds up to 125 mph (200 kmh) in the first major test of the energy industry's preparedness since the devastating 2005 hurricane season.
In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which normally pumps a quarter of all U.S. oil production and 15 percent of its natural gas output, energy companies had shut in more than 96 percent of the area's oil output and 82 percent of gas as of Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said.
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