Storm Alex may become hurricane & eye Gulf oil production

Tropical storm Alex has strengthened and may move closer towards the Gulf of Mexico and the oil production facilities with winds approaching hurricane status.

The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center in Miami calls for the storm to weaken after moving over the Yucatan Peninsula and then re-intensify after it hits open Gulf of Mexico waters. Current projections have it making final landfall somewhere in Mexico perhaps by Wednesday afternoon next week.

“At this point, it’s real iffy on the impact on the oil depending on where Alex eventually ends up,” said Ron Block, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee. “Right now, we’re just keeping a close eye on it.”

Alex’s presence and the new hurricane season is forcing the BP oil spill cleanup team overseeing the doomed Deepwater Horizon site to make contingency plans. Any system with winds over 46 mph could stop oil production in the Gulf and also on the BP oil spill cleanup, a full evacuation could delay efforts for upto two weeks.

Current official estimates suggest between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day are leaking from the rogue well. BP has collected over 24,000 barrels on Friday and about 11,640 barrels in the first half of Saturday, the company estimated.

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