GAS HITS RECORD, OIL FUTURES JUMP

Natural gas surged to a record, and crude oil and gasoline futures jumped yesterday on forecasts that Tropical Storm Rita will strengthen into a hurricane and impede efforts to restore production in the Gulf of Mexico.

“ Evacuations have already started, which is going to disrupt production,” said Doug Leggate, senior oil analyst at Citigroup Inc. in New York.

“ Any storm going through the Gulf is going to slow the pace of the recovery from Katrina.”

Natural gas for October delivery rose US$ 1.519, or 14%, to US$ 12.663 per million British Thermal Units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since the futures debuted in 1990. The price earlier reached US$ 12.70, an intraday record.

Crude oil for October jumped US$4.39, or 7%, to US$67.39 a barrel. Gasoline jumped US25.76¢ , or 14%, to US$2.0427 a gallon.