Until Tuesday, Hurricane Alex probably won’t become a hurricane. But for now, Alex, which is the first named storm of hurricane season 2010, seems to be heading from the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010. South Texas and northeastern Mexico has been given a hurricane warning. On day 69 of the gulf oil spill about 116 million gallons of crude have fouled the gulf, as outlined by government estimates.
Oil can be pushed onto shore by Hurricane Alex
This hurricane watch means a hurricane could hit in 48 hours. If the tropical storm conforms to all of the predicted forecasts and becomes Hurricane Alex, the storm’s center is not expected to approach the area of the oil spill off Louisiana’s coast. But Stacy Stewart, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, told CNN that Alex’s outer wind field could push oil from the spill farther inland and hinder operations within the area. Its center is on a track from the Yucatan peninsula and is also headed for the Texas-Mexico border.
Hurricane Alec might very well threaten oil spill containment
Oil spill containment procedures and efforts to cap the gushing well would likely be suspended if Hurricane Alex approached the northeastern part of the Gulf. It was reported by ABC News that when Alex became the first named storm of hurricane season 2010 which started June 1, officials worried what effect it could have on efforts to contain the millions of gallons of crude spewing into the sea and washing up on beaches.
The Course might nevertheless change for Hurricane Alex
50 mph winds extend up to 70 miles from the storms center. Around 7 mph, it is moving north-northwest. According to CNN, National Hurricane Center forecasters have not ruled out an easterly shift in Alex’s path. If Hurricane Alex were to change its present path, the oil spill cap that has been placed over the blown-out well that is catching some of the crude would have to be removed within the event of a hurricane. Operations would have to be suspended by ships drilling relief wells. On their present schedule, the relief wells, which are considered to be the best hope to stop the leak, are projected to be done by August.
Futures of crude oil are sensitive to storm track
The 2010 hurricane season showed us how oil prices could be affected by storms. As Hurricane Alex continues to veer away from the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010, the Wall Street Journal reports that crude oil futures Monday backed off from seven-week highs. Even though the storm could make the affects of the oil spill worse, what matters a lot more to the world is more oil production, and fears that the developing tropical storm would disrupt oil production eased. As a result, prices for light sweet crude for August delivery went down 75 cents to $78.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Discover more about this topic here:
CNN
cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/06/28/tropical.storm.alex/index.html?npt=NP1
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=11033517&page=1
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100628-706482.html
