Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil soared to a record above $70 a barrel in New York after Hurricane Katrina forced companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, where 30 percent of U.S. oil is produced.

Oil had its biggest gain in 29 months as Katrina, the U.S. Gulf coast's worst storm since 1969, disrupted production and headed for refineries that make as much as 15 percent of the nation's fuel. Hurricane Ivan last September cut the region's oil output by as much about a third.

``It's as bad as it can get,'' said Marshall Steeves, an oil analyst at Refco Inc. ``Hurricane Ivan came through almost a very similar tract and did a tremendous amount of damage.''

Crude oil for October delivery rose as much as $4.67, or 7 percent, to $70.80 a barrel in electronic after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $69.70 a barrel at 2:37 p.m. Singapore time. Natural gas, heating oil and gasoline all rose to records today.

Asian shares and U.S. stock futures fell on concern rising energy costs will reduce profits and leave consumers with less money to spend. U.S. 10-year treasuries had the biggest gain in over a week.

``The storm is more severe than we've thought; it's turned into a monster,'' said Paul Sankey, senior oil analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. ``The amount of lost production is equal to almost all the spare capacity in the world.''

Oil has risen 65 percent so far this year as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers failed to increase output enough to meet demand. Consumption, led by China, conflict in the Middle East and storms in the U.S. Gulf, helped boost the price to records.

Shell

Natural gas for September delivery gained as much as 23 percent to $12.07 per million British thermal units, the biggest one-day rise for 11 months. It was at $11.840 at 2:38 p.m. Singapore time.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has shut 420,000 barrels of daily oil production in the Gulf because of Katrina, the most powerful hurricane poised to hit the U.S. since 1992. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which handles about 11 percent of U.S. imports, closed Aug. 27 and has since halted all oil movements to shore.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest oil company, evacuated workers and shut about 50,000 barrels of daily oil production and 300 million cubic feet of gas, spokeswoman Susan Reeves said. The company removed 430 employees and contractors from its Gulf facilities last night, she said.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, did not have figures immediately about the amount of oil and natural gas that will be shut, spokesman Matt Carmichael said. ``We are still doing the math,'' he said.

State of Emergency

Katrina is a Category-5 storm, the most severe on the Saffir- Simpson scale of hurricane strength. Only three storms of that magnitude have hit the U.S. and a direct strike would devastate New Orleans.

Category 5 hurricanes, with winds greater than 155 mph (249 kph) can tear roofs off homes, blow down all trees and shrubs, and cause flooding.

States of emergency have been declared in Louisiana and Mississippi. New Orleans, a city of 500,000 within a metropolitan area of 1.3 million, is being evacuated of all but essential personnel. Much of the city, 100 miles upriver from the Gulf, lies below sea level.

Katrina was centered about 90 miles (144 km) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River at midnight local time, the National Hurricane Center said in its most recent advisory on its Web site. The storm was moving northwest at 10 mph.

Ivan

Oil prices jumped 22 percent in the month after Hurricane Ivan, the third most costly hurricane in U.S. records, tore through the Gulf last September, toppling platforms and damaging underwater pipelines.

Lost production in the Gulf because of Ivan peaked Sept. 16. Gas output was reduced by 6.5 billion cubic feet of gas, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which oversees offshore production. Shut production from Katrina could match those numbers, Sankey said.

U.S. supplies of refined products, including gasoline, jet fuel and diesel, may also decline as refineries near the path of the storm also shut down. ConocoPhillips, the biggest U.S. refining company, shut its Alliance refinery south of New Orleans. Chevron Corp. and Valero Energy Corp. also shut refineries and evacuated staff.

Camille

Camille, a category 5 hurricane, hit the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts in August 1969. The only other two category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. were Hurricane Andrew, which blew through Florida in August 1992, and the so-called Labor Day hurricane that devastated the Florida Keys in 1935.

U.S. wholesale prices rose in July by the most in nine months on energy costs, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to fight inflation. In the same month, China's crude oil import bill rose 61 percent to $4.2 billion.

Record energy prices are hurting economies across Asia. Indonesia's rupiah last week slumped 4.1 percent, the most in three years, on concern about the country's ballooning oil import bill. Malaysia's inflation has more than doubled in a year, while Thai consumer confidence fell in July to a three-year low.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's biggest refiner, said today first-half profit rose 17 percent, less than a third of the year-earlier gain, as oil costs cut earnings from making fuels and chemicals.

Air New Zealand Ltd., that nation's biggest airline, forecast its full-year profit may tumble as much as 40 percent should jet fuel prices hold near their recent record levels.

Gasoline for September delivery rose as much as 23.06 cents, or 12 percent, to $2.1575 a gallon in after-hours electronic trading. It was at $2.1452 at 12:58 p.m. Singapore time.

Heating oil for September delivery rose as much as 17.71 cents, or 9.6 percent, to $2.0137 a gallon in after-hours trading. It was at $2.0075 at 2:35 p.m. Singapore time.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington, New Zealand at gavinevans@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 29, 2005 02:41 EDT