| Crude oil futures rose for a third day as Hurricane Ivan forced producers including Royal Dutch/Shell Group to cut output in the U.S. part of the Gulf of Mexico by almost two-thirds and raised concern refineries may be flooded. About 1 million barrels a day of Gulf production has been shut, equal to 5 percent of U.S. consumption, the government's Minerals Management Service said. U.S. inventories may fall as the storm delays unloading of tankers, slowing imports. OPEC, meeting in Vienna today, is discussing a boost in output quotas of between 500,000 and 1 million barrels a day, ministers said. |