Oil moving out of threat from Bill

HOUSTON, June 17 (UPI) -- British energy company BP remained on standby with its storm prediction center as Tropical Depression Bill moved further inland from the Texas coast Wednesday.

Bill was downgraded from a tropical storm after it made landfall on the Texas coast Tuesday morning. The National Hurricane Center said Bill has maximum sustained winds of around 35 miles per hour. The storm is expected to weaken to become a post-tropical low as it crosses the Texas border into Oklahoma early Thursday morning.

BP maintains a storm prediction center with operational updates on activity in the Gulf of Mexico.

"At this time, normal operations continue at all BP-operated offshore facilities," it said. "We remain prepared to respond as conditions warrant and as part of BP's year-round efforts to plan, train and prepare for the Atlantic hurricane season."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 17 percent of total U.S. oil production. About half of the total production in the Gulf of Mexico was cut in 2005, which at the time was around 846,000 barrels per day, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Houston Pilots Association, which monitors port activity in Texas, said the Houston Shipping Channel has remained closed since Monday in response to inclement weather.

U.S. crude oil prices climbed modesty in response to the Tuesday landfall of Bill, though no major operations in the Gulf of Mexico were significantly impacted by the storm.