⁍ Energy companies, ports and refiners raced on Monday to shut down as Hurricane Sally grew stronger.

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⁍ The hurricane is disrupting oil imports and exports as the nation’s sole offshore terminal stopped loading tanker ships on Sunday.

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⁍ The U.S. government said 21%, or nearly 396,000 barrels per day (bpd), of offshore crude oil production and 25%, or 685 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of natural gas output were shut.

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– A mandatory evacuation has been issued for residents in low-lying areas of Mississippi and Louisiana as Hurricane Sally moves toward the Gulf Coast, where oil and gas production has been shut down, Reuters reports. The storm was upgraded to a hurricane on Monday and is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Tuesday. Oil and gas production has been shut down in the US-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico, including in Louisiana, where the port of New Orleans closed on Monday. The state’s only offshore terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, stopped loading tanker ships on Sunday, while the port of New Orleans closed on Monday. Officials in Mississippi and Louisiana issued mandatory evacuations for residents in low-lying areas. The storm is disrupting oil imports and exports as the nation’s sole offshore terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, stopped loading tanker ships on Sunday, while the port of New Orleans closed on Monday. The US government said 21%, or nearly 396,000 barrels per day, of offshore crude oil production and 25%, or 685 million cubic feet per day, of natural gas output were shut in the US-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico. That area produces about 17% of US crude oil and 5% of US natural gas output. Sally’s impact could extend beyond the storm’s duration, said an industry analyst. ‘I don’t expect to see damage from wind, but we could see a significant amount of onshore flooding that impacts infrastructure and subsequently impacts Gulf of Mexico production,’ said Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.