Oil companies evacuated workers from tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico

The National Hurricane Center (NHC ) issued tonight a tropical storm warning for the U.S. coast of the northern Gulf of Mexico, from Pascagoula, Mississippi, west to Sabine Pass, Texas.
At 19:00 local time (00:00 GMT) depression located about 360 kilometers southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum winds of 55 mph, the report said.
It is predicted that depression becomes a tropical storm by Friday. The system moves slowly northwest at nine miles per hour and could approach the central Louisiana coast on Saturday.
It is predicted that as a tropical storm, the system produces up to 38 inches of rain in southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday.
Depression forced companies BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Noble Corp. to evacuate their employees from rigs in the Gulf.
A report by the Regulatory Office of Energy Management Ocean said depression had slowed to 5.7 percent of crude production and 2.4 percent of natural gas.
The platforms in the Gulf of Mexico is home to about 27 percent of U.S. crude production and 6.5 percent of the natural gas.
The closure of production caused oil prices in London and the United States began to rise.
independent forecasters estimate that the areas of oil platforms may experience strong winds for four or five days because the system will move slowly before leaving the area.