U.S. oil, gas sector prepared for Sandy

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. oil and natural gas sector is secured as remnants of Hurricane Sandy slams into the country's East Coast, the American Petroleum Institute said.

The National Hurricane Center categorized Sandy, once a Category 1 hurricane, as a post-tropical cyclone as it swept inland from the east coast of the United States.

The storm, which had 80 mph sustained winds when it made landfall near Atlantic City, N.J., around 8 p.m. Monday, pressed on with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph early Tuesday and moved northwest at 18 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Thousands of residents on East Coast were without power.

Bob Greco, director of downstream operations at API, said the oil and gas industry was prepared for the storm.

"Hurricane procedures have been implemented and will remain in effect until the passing of the storm," he said in a statement. "Onshore facilities have been secured for the storm. This includes pipelines, refineries and terminals."

John Kilduff, a market analyst at Again Capital, told the Platts news service that roughly 1 million barrels per day of oil production were in Sandy's path. With states of emergency declared in the storm's wake, however, low demand is expected to offset production declines.