courtesy NOAA

The count of shut-in oil in the wake of Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico has risen to 1.26 million barrels per day, with 562 oil platforms and 93 rigs evacuated after the second big storm in three weeks.

Shut-in gas volumes have reached 6.9 million cubic feet per day, or 93 percent of Gulf production, according to a survey of oil companies by the U.S. Minerals Management Service. The shut-off oil production amounts to 97 percent, or nearly a third of domestic American production.

As night fell in Texas, mass evacuations were reported by all major news channels. Ike is expected to make landfall on the Texan Gulf coast late Friday night local time.

Meanwhile, damage from Hurricane Gustav’s sweep through part of the Gulf’s oil leases in August and September has so far been “minor”, according to officials, although an unmanned production platform was “destroyed” leaving an oil slick.

“We have just started to see reports and will take several weeks before we have a more comprehensive picture,” the MMS said.

Damage reporting has been cut short by Ike’s approach, but at least one platform received “extensive damage” needing three to six months to repair, including likely underwater infrastructure.

Five platforms have been “moderately damaged” and 35 were reported having “minor damage” needing less than a month to repair.