Oil prices rise as Gustav shuts Gulf installations

SINGAPORE, Sept 1 (AFP) World oil prices rose by more than one dollar in Asian trade today after Hurricane Gustav forced the shutdown of almost all oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. brNew York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, rose 1.17 dollars to 116.63 dollars a barrel from its close of 115.46 on Friday at the New York Mercantile Exchange. brBrent North Sea crude for October gained 1.04 dollars to 115.09 from 114.05 in London Friday. brAbout one quarter of US oil production comes from the Gulf, but US officials said Sunday that more than 96 per cent of Gulf oil production and 82 per cent of natural gas output had been stopped in the face of the storm. brIt's all about Gustav, said Tony Nunan, of Mitsubishi Corp's international petroleum business in Tokyo. brHeavy winds and rains began battering the Gulf Coast on Monday although the eye of the storm was not expected to make official landfall until later in the day. brWorld oil prices have sunk from record highs above 147 dollars a barrel in early July after surging from 100 dollars at the start of the year. brThe threat of Gustav raised grim memories of the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita that damaged or destroyed about 165 of around 4,000 oil platforms in the Gulf.