Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Gasoline and crude oil fell in New York after Hurricane Rita weakened on its path toward Texas and shifted eastwards away from the heart of the refining industry.

Rita's winds dropped to 140 mph from as high as 175 mph earlier, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm may make landfall between the northern coast of Texas and the west coast of Louisiana. Gasoline rose 4.2 percent yesterday as about 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity was shut in Texas.

``The track has been moving to the east, away from the really big refineries in the Houston area,'' said Kyle Cooper, an analyst with Citigroup Inc. in Houston. ``The storm is still serious.''

Gasoline for October delivery fell as much as 6 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $2.079 a gallon in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $2.098 at 12:09 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose 8.63 cents to $2.1394, the highest close since Sept. 2.

Prices touched $2.92 a gallon on Aug. 31, the highest since trading began in 1984, and closed 59 percent higher than a year ago. Gasoline yesterday had the biggest move of any commodity.

At least 14 refineries with a combined capacity of more than 3.3 million barrels a day were closed or had processing cut in Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and in or near Houston, as Texas braced for Rita, one of the strongest storms on record.

About 5 percent of U.S. capacity was already closed because of Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana and Mississippi Aug. 29 and sent U.S. gasoline pump prices above $3 a gallon for the first time.

Crude Oil

Crude oil for November delivery fell as much as 62 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $65.88 a barrel in electronic trading. It was at $66.15 at 12:13 p.m. Singapore time.

Yesterday, oil fell 30 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $66.50, having earlier reached $68.14. Oil reversed when the storm was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane from Category 5.

Futures have fallen 6.1 percent since touching a record $70.85 a barrel on Aug. 30, the day after Katrina made landfall. Prices are 36 percent higher than a year ago.

Crude oil may rise next week on concern Hurricane Rita will damage production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and refineries in Texas, a Bloomberg survey showed.

Thirty-three of 53 analysts and strategists surveyed, or 62 percent, said oil will rise next week. Eleven, or 21 percent, said prices will fall and 9 forecast little change.

About 92 percent of normal Gulf oil production and 66 percent of gas output was shut yesterday, according to the Minerals Management Service. The Gulf accounts for about 24 percent of U.S. gas output and most gas used in the U.S. is produced domestically.

Natural gas for October was little changed in electronic trading at $12.764 per million British thermal units after rising for the past two days on concerns that supplies of the U.S.'s main fuel used for heating will run short.

Declining Output

Platforms and plants are shutting and there are few options for acquiring emergency supplies, said Gerard Burg, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne. Import capacity is limited and there is no strategic natural gas reserve, he said.

``Natural gas production has been in decline for some time, so that just puts the whole energy market for winter under greater pressure,'' Burg said.

Yesterday, natural gas rose 19.6 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $12.79, the highest close since trading began in 1990. Prices, which touched $13.42, an intraday record, have more than doubled in the past year. The path of the hurricane has moved eastward, away from Houston and toward Port Arthur, which is near the Louisiana border.

``It looks as if there's not going to be so much damage to the bigger refining sites,'' said David Thurtell, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

Rita's Center

Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Valero Energy Corp. are among the companies that shut plants. Closures extended to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Citgo Petroleum Corp. was shutting its refinery, the fourth-largest in the U.S., according to an Energy Department report yesterday.

Rita's center was located about 350 miles southeast of Galveston as of 10 p.m. local time, the hurricane center said. The storm is moving west-northwest at 10 mph and is expected to turn gradually towards the northwest during the next 24 hours, it said.

``On this track, the core of Rita will be approaching the southwest Louisiana and upper Texas coasts late Friday,'' the center said.

Exxon Mobil said it is closing its 557,000 barrels-a-day Baytown, Texas, refinery, the nation's largest, and another plant in Beaumont. Valero is shutting plants in Texas City and Houston. Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP Plc and Marathon Oil Corp. also closed or slowed operations yesterday.

Higher Prices

``If some refineries are damaged, prices will rise higher than they did as a result of Katrina,'' said Phil Flynn, vice president of risk management at Alaron Trading Corp. ``There would be record pump prices, which would eventually go down because demand will fall as the economy falters. There comes a point when people will reduce driving and I think we're close.''

Regular-grade gasoline, averaged nationwide, fell 0.9 cent to $2.755 a gallon yesterday, according to data released yesterday by the AAA, the nation's largest motoring organization. Prices have declined 9.9 percent since touching a record $3.057 on Sept. 2.

Heating oil for October delivery yesterday rose 0.71 cent, or 0.4 percent, to $2.0458 a gallon. Futures touched $2.21 on Sept. 1, the highest in 27 years of trading on the exchange. Heating oil was at $2.0205 in after-hours trading.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 23, 2005 00:24 EDT