Storm threat shuts some US Gulf oil output

Oil and gas producers increasingly shut down production and evacuated workers in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday as the first weather system of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season disrupted some operations in the prolific basin.

The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which oversees oil and gas activity in the Gulf, said a fraction of the basin's output was shut in: 7.8% of daily oil and 8.16% of daily natural gas output. (Reuters)