Weakening Ida Still Threatens Gulf Industry

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Though downgraded from a hurricane Monday, Tropical Storm Ida nonetheless stands to cause some problems for a bevy of publicly traded companies as it churns north in the Gulf of Mexico toward landfall, expected Tuesday morning, along the coastline between Louisiana and the Florida panhandle.

Oil companies, clearly, have already seen operations disrupted by the storm. Monday morning, Chevron(CVX) said it expects that the evacuation of workers from its offshore rigs in the gulf, as well as refineries along the coast, will impede its operations there.

>> Photo Gallery: Tropical Storm Ida

The company also said it was working to secure its Pascagoula refinery, situated on the Mississippi coast, from the storm's landfall.

Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico draw a quarter of the crude oil and 15% of the natural gas produced by the U.S. annually. Last year, two hurricanes -- Gustav and Ike -- combined to reduce crude production by some 6 billion barrels.

Worker evacuations -- and even rescues -- have already begun. BP has cut back on production. Royal Dutch Shell(RDS.A), Anadarko(APC) and Exxon Mobile(XOM) have all removed personnel from offshore platforms.

Royal Dutch and Andarko said their moves have, so far, not impinged on production.