Energy Prices Climb as Rita Churns Toward Texas

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rude oil and gasoline jumped in overnight trading on concerns that Hurricane Rita would damage more oil refineries in the Gulf Coast region, and natural gas prices reached a record high, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and Valero Energy Corp. are closing four refineries near Houston, and the nation’s largest oil import terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, stopped unloading oil tankers, Bloomberg said.

Wholesale gasoline prices rose to as high $2.16 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level since Sept. 6 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Bloomberg reported.

Because of the concentration of refineries in the Houston area where Rita is projected to hit, some news reports said gasoline retail prices could spike even in excess of the $3-plus per-gallon prices following Katrina, to as high as $4 a gallon or more.

ita strengthened overnight with winds in excess of 170 mph — well in excess of the 156-mph threshold for Category 5 hurricanes, the strongest level possible — and continued on a path toward the Texas coast, news and weather reports said. The storm was projected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday.