Threatened flooding from a tropical storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that cut nearly a third of the region’s oil production has forced the shutdown of a coastal refinery, pushing oil and gasoline prices higher on Thursday. Phillips 66 said it expected to complete the closing of its 253,600-barrel-per-day (bpd) Alliance, Louisiana, refinery on Thursday after local authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of the area. Pipeline operator Enbridge evacuated staff from three offshore platforms and halted operations on some deepwater Gulf of Mexico natural gas pipelines. Oil companies have shut a third of offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico production ahead of Tropical Storm Barry, which could become a Hurricane late Friday, according to a National Weather Service (NWS) forecast. At least 17 offshore oil and gas platforms operated by Anadarko Petroleum, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and others were evacuated, and many halted production, according to […]