Katrina’s Damage Sinks In

The price of crude oil rose $2.70 to $69.90 Tuesday, a new record, after Hurricane Katrina shut down 95 percent of production in the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina crossed the US coast yesterday after closing the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the largest oil import terminal in the country. The US government is considering tapping its strategic oil reserve in an attempt to lower crude prices and ease the crisis. The government loaned 5.4 million barrels of oil last year to refiners whose supplies were disrupted by Hurricane Ivan.