Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Charley may strengthen into a hurricane later today as it heads through the Caribbean toward Jamaica, U.S. government forecasters said.

The tropical storm is about 225 miles (360 kilometers) east- southeast of Jamaica and is moving at 25 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 1 a.m. Miami time. A warning means a hurricane may be expected in a coastal area in 24 hours or less. Charley's winds are gusting at about 65 miles per hour (105 kilometers per hour).

``A hurricane warning may be required for Jamaica later this morning,'' the center said on its Web site. ``On this track, the center of Charley will be nearing Jamaica near midday.''

The hurricane season in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, which lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30, often disrupts oil production. Another tropical storm, Bonnie, yesterday forced companies including Royal Dutch/Shell Group to evacuate workers from rigs and close some platforms in the Gulf as a precaution.

Bonnie is moving slowly in the U.S. Central Gulf and winds have eased to 45 miles per hour from 50 miles per hour, the Miami- based agency said. The center of the storm was 280 miles south- southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm was moving north at 5 miles an hour.

Shell, Apache

Shell halted daily production of 49,000 barrels of oil and 80 million cubic feet of gas at its Princess and Crosby fields in the Gulf of Mexico as it evacuated about 500 nonessential personnel, spokeswoman Helen Bow said yesterday.

Apache Corp. shut production of about 2 million cubic feet of gas a day in the Gulf and was evacuating about 40 nonessential workers, spokesman Bill Mintz said.

Other energy companies including ChevronTexaco Corp. and Unocal Corp evacuated workers without affecting production.

Tropical depressions become tropical storms when sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour. Tropical storms become hurricanes when sustained winds reach 74 miles per hour. Storms are given names once they reach tropical storm status.

Last Updated: August 11, 2004 04:46 EDT