So far the Gulf oil spill has not had a major effect on Gulf port shipping lanes. A complete closure of the shipping lanes is unlikely, but would be disastrous for the price of all commodities being shipped into the United States.
Any ships encountering crude on their hulls will need to be delayed as the hulls are power washed to eliminate oil entering the Mississippi River. The more ships that encounter oil flows will make the delays longer.
The Gulf states were fortunate that tropical storm Bonnie was unable to generate hurricane strength winds. However, the winds are still strong enough to direct remnants of the spill into the shipping channels.
Traders should tune to Coast Guard reports for any indication that shipping delays are occurring due to crude entering navigation channels.
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