Hurricane in US, chaos in Iraq and even more price records

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration & Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'.
A hurricane named Katrina devastated oil installations along the US Gulf Coast as well as the city of New Orleans, sending oil prices to new record levels. Nearly 1.4 mn bpd of offshore oil production was shut-in, along with 8.3 bn cfd of the Gulf's natural gas. More production was closed down onshore along with nearly 2.4 mn bpd of refining capacity. Crude and product prices shot up worldwide. The 30th August saw October WTI close at a record $69.81/bbl, having traded earlier in the day up to $70.85/bbl. On 31st August, Nymex gasoline closed at a new high of $2.6145/gall as the Gulf Coast's refineries remained off-line. Gulf spot prices rose above $3/gall. The following day, October heating oil set a new record by closing at $2.1985/gall. Records fell outside the US, with Tapis at $70.97 on 31st August. The previous day saw IPE October Brent settle at a record $67.57, whilst the November and December contracts both saw trades above $69.00/bbl. Natural gas prices also moved into record territory in the US, topping $12 per mn BTU on Nymex during the morning of 30th August.