The production losses from storm Rafael are estimated at around 2.07 million barrels (mbbl) of oil and 1.12 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas.

UK supermajor Shell has paused some drilling operations in the US Gulf of Mexico and will move some workers from its facilities in the region as another possible hurricane is looming within the next week.

Later this week and over the weekend, weakened steering currents are likely to cause the system to meander offshore or along the coast of Central America. Toward the end of the forecast period, a front moving into the western Gulf of Mexico is expected to shift the storm to a northwestward track.

A tropical depression that forecasters expect to form in the Caribbean Sea within the next week is forecast to reach the Gulf of Mexico early next week, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center forecasts Tropical Storm Sara could get into the Gulf of Mexico after swamping Central America and crossing over Mexico.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season refuses to quit. Invest 99 in the Caribbean has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression and tropical storm by the weekend. Most reliable modeling suggests a move to the Gulf of Mexico next week with some impacts possible across the Florida Peninsula.