Tropical storm Edouard was expected to strengthen to near-hurricane strength as it closes in on Texas's Gulf of Mexico coastline, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.
Oil companies with exploration and refining facilities in the region were battening down and some evacuated offshore personnel in advance of the storm, which was expected to make landfall near midday Tuesday.
At 11:00 am (1500) GMT Edouard was located about 260 kilometers (160 miles) south-southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana and 425 kilometers (265 miles) east-southeast of Galveston, Texas, the Miami-based center reported.
Winds had slowed from earlier Monday to 75 kilometers (45 miles) per hour, but were expected to strengthen to near-hurricane force — 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour before reaching the coastline, the NHS said.
Edouard was moving in a westerly direction at 13 kilometers (eight miles) per hour, and was expected to veer to the west-northwest later Monday, reaching the coast around the border of Texas and Louisiana on Tuesday.
Oil industry operators in the area, a crucial hub of the US petroleum industry, said they were taking safety precautions as the storm neared.
Anglo-Dutch energy group Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday that it would evacuate about 40 staff from the Gulf of Mexico.
"No further evacuations are planned at this time and based on current information and forecast, we do not expect any impact on Shell-operated production in the Gulf of Mexico," the company said in a statement.
ExxonMobil said that it was monitoring the storm to see if evacuations would be necessary, but that its exploration and production facilities and its Baytown refinery and chemical plants were all operating normally.
"ExxonMobil is determining which of its facilities may potentially be in the path of the storm, preparing those structures for heavy wind and rain, and identifying personnel for possible evacuation to shore.
"Currently, there is no impact to production, and no personnel have been evacuated," the company said on its website.
