Crude oil and gasoline jumped as natural gas surged to an all-time high on forecasts that Tropical Storm Rita will strengthen into a hurricane and impede efforts to restore production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rita, which gained strength over the Bahamas, may become a hurricane and approach the Texas coast by Saturday. Hurricane Katrina last month caused the shutdown of eight oil refineries and forced at least 10 others to slow processing. Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Chevron announced they are pulling workers from platforms in the Gulf.

“Evacuations have already started, which is going to disrupt production,” a senior oil analyst at Citigroup, Doug Leggate, said. “Any storm going through the Gulf is going to slow the pace of the recovery from Katrina.”

Crude oil, natural gas, gasoline, and heating oil surged to records after Katrina made landfall. Crude oil touched $67.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since September 2.

Natural gas futures reached $12.70, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1990. The previous record of $12.30 was touched on August 31.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects to announce today an agreement to offer an extra 2 million barrels a day to world markets, which would leave members pumping as much as they can, the group’s president said. OPEC, which produces 40% of world’s oil, was meeting yesterday and will meet today in Vienna.

Evacuations of employees, including some who are essential to production, began as Rita strengthened and headed toward southern Florida. Houston-based Diamond Offshore Drilling is idling two rigs for evacuation, and a third is being moved from Rita’s projected path, a company spokesman, Les Van Dyke, said yesterday in a telephone interview.

About 30% of American oil production comes from offshore facilities in the Gulf, while the region accounts for 24% of the country’s gas output.

Oil and natural-gas supplies from the Gulf will take three months to return to 90% of normal levels because of storm damage, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Friday.

Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, shut as much as 95% of American oil and 88% of gas output as offshore platforms and coastal processing plants were evacuated. The MMS said that 56% of Gulf oil production was idle yesterday, about 2 percentage points less than a week ago. Natural-gas output was down by 34%.

“We left Friday with the forecasts showing a hit around Brownsville, Texas, but over the weekend the track has shifted north and there is a real chance that it will hit Louisiana,” an assistant director of market analysis at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Bill O’Grady, said. “Another large storm hitting Louisiana would be unprecedented and disastrous. There have been years when more than one storm has hit but they were weaker.”

Four refineries, which account for about 5% of total American fuel-making capacity, remain shut because of damage caused by Katrina.