HURRICANE

Powerful Hurricane Earl churned towards the eastern U.S. seaboard Tuesday and looked to sideswipe the densely populated coast from North Carolina to New England, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said.

Hurricane Earl churned towards the North Carolina coast of the eastern U.S. seaboard on Tuesday after lashing Puerto Rico and the northeast Caribbean islands with winds, rain and waves, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said.

Hurricane Alex slowed oil clean-up and containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, with any permanent fix to BP Plc's ruptured deep-sea oil well still several weeks away.

As hurricane season begins in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, forecasters are predicting higher-than-usual activity that could disrupt oil and gas production in the Gulf and hinder efforts to clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The 2010 hurricane season is expected to be extreme and carry along above-normal threats on the U.S. coastline, AccuWeather.com predicted Wednesday.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday to above $80 a barrel after a late-season hurricane disrupted oil and gas output in the Gulf of Mexico and the dollar stayed close to a 15-month low.

Oil prices fell slightly on Tuesday but held above $79 a barrel as the dollar weakened, gold stayed strong and a late-season hurricane subsided in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday to around $79 a barrel as a late-season hurricane subsided in the Gulf of Mexico and traders awaited key U.S. inventory data.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday to $79 a barrel as a late-season hurricane subsided in the Gulf of Mexico and traders awaited key U.S. inventory data.

Oil rose well over a dollar to more than $79 a barrel on Monday after Hurricane Ida forced the shut in of U.S. oil and gas production and Group of 20 talks sent equities up and the dollar down.

Oil rose more than $1 toward $79 a barrel on Monday after Hurricane Ida forced the shut in of U.S. oil and gas facilities, and on the outcome of Group of 20 talks sent equities up and the dollar down.

Oil rose more than $1 to above $78 a barrel on Monday after Hurricane Ida forced the shut in of U.S. oil and gas facilities and the outcome of Group of 20 talks sent equities up and the dollar down.

Oil rose more than $1 to above $78 a barrel on Monday, recouping some of the previous session's near 3 percent loss, on fears a powerful hurricane would cut U.S. oil and gas supplies and also lifted by the falling dollar.

Hurricane Ida slammed into Nicaragua's Caribbean coast on Thursday after dumping heavy rain on little-developed offshore islands where hundreds of people were evacuated from flimsy homes.

Hurricane Fred strengthened into a Category 3 storm on Wednesday over the eastern Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Jimena has weakened slightly as it approaches the southwestern area of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula but remains an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said on its latest report.

Hurricane Jimena, an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, barreled toward Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, forcing tourists to flee the Los Cabos resort area.

Hurricane Jimena is very close to becoming a category 5 hurricane, the highest in the Saffir-Simpson scale with sustained winds greater than 155 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center reported at 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday.

Hurricane Jimena, a dangerous Category 4 storm, churned toward Mexico's Baja California Peninsula on Monday, headed for the upscale resort of Los Cabos where residents and tourists stocked up on fuel and food.

Hurricane Jimena, an extremely dangerous category 4 hurricane, is approaching with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour to the southern portion of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula prompting a hurricane warning for the area, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported Monday afternoon.

Hurricane Jimena, a dangerous Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific Coast, was on track to buffet resorts on the Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.