Crude-oil prices rose Wednesday as strengthening Hurricane Rita, now a Category 5 storm, threatened to disrupt oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November rose 60 cents to close at 66.80 dollars per barrel. In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery advanced 53 cents to 64.73 dollars.

After brushing the Florida Keys islands on Tuesday, Rita packed winds of about 240 kilometers an hour as it headed across the Gulf of Mexico.

The US National Hurricane Center said Rita was "extremely dangerous" and could become a top-level category five storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The storm threatened oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico where about one-quarter of US oil operations are based.

Oil companies evacuated offshore facilities as the storm's progress kept global markets on tenterhooks. In Texas, BP shut its 460,000 barrels per day refinery and Marathon shut its 72,000 bpd plant.

Valero said it was reducing rates at its 243,000 bpd Texas City refinery and its 85,000 bpd Houston refinery. Exxon Mobil released nonessential staff from two giant Texas plants.

Last month, Katrina devastated refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi and sent prices to a record high of 70.85 dollars a barrel.

Source: Xinhua