Hurricane Beryl Threatens Texas Oil Ports

The US Coast Guard has issued a warning about the possible closure of Texas oil ports and has begun restricting vessel movements due to Tropical Storm Beryl.

The storm is expected to regain strength and potentially become a hurricane before making landfall by Monday morning near Port Lavaca.

Closing the ports could temporarily halt crude oil shipments to refineries and fuel shipments produced by those refineries.

The National Hurricane Center reported that the storm's maximum wind speed reached 95 kilometers per hour on Saturday.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico accounts for nearly 14 percent of the total US production, amounting to about 1.8 million barrels per day.

Any disruption in supplies from this region could lead to an increase in US crude oil prices.