Storm Isaac's westward shift may target U.S. offshore oilpatch

Gulf of Mexico operators on Sunday braced for the first hurricane in 2012 to affect the U.S. oilpatch, which is also expected to disrupt the majority of U.S. offshore oil output. After initially calling for Tropical Storm Isaac to pass well east of the U.S. offshore production zone, forecasters are now predicting a more westward track which could bring Isaac as a powerful Category 2 hurricane over the heart of the U.S. offshore oilpatch, which produces about 23 percent of U.S. oil output and 7 percent of its natural gas output. Isaac could be the biggest test to U.S. energy infrastructure since 2008, when Hurricanes Gustav and Ike disrupted offshore oil output for months as well as damaged onshore natural gas processing plants and pipelines. London-based BP Plc, the biggest U.S. Gulf producer, on Sunday evacuated all of its Gulf of Mexico rigs, after earlier shutting down its giant Thunder Horse platform, the world's largest, which can process 250,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic of natural gas per day (mmcfd), and three others...more