In Florida, thousands of people were evacuated from the Keys as Rita, the latest tropical storm, built up speed near the Bahamas. Forecasts suggest Rita will hit Texas or Mexico at the end of the week with the force of another hurricane.

Texas is home to 26 petroleum refineries, most of them on the coast, providing a quarter of US refining capacity. Five per cent of US refining is still closed after Katrina struck land at the end of August in Louisana and Mississippi.

Meanwhile, an offer from Opec, the oil producers’ cartel, to put its remaining spare capacity up for sale, failed to bolster the market. Sheikh Ahamad al-Fahd al-Sabah, the Opec president, said that the cartel would offer all its unused capacity to the market without raising its official quota. He said: “We have the two million (barrels per day) available if there is a call for it — there is no need for raising the ceiling.”

Opec has been fighting a propaganda battle with Europe and the United States, defending itself against accusations from Western political leaders, including Gordon Brown, that the cartel is doing too little to calm the energy markets.

In response, Opec points to the relatively high level of crude stocks in the West and blames the region’s oil companies for failing to build enough refineries. Edmund Daukoru, the Nigerian Oil Minister, said: “I don’t believe (the extra oil) is needed.”

Oil reached a peak of more than $70 per barrel last month when Hurricane Katrina knocked out a tenth of America’s refineries and sent petrol prices to record levels. However, an emerging glut of crude oil has failed to scare the market’s bulls, who continue to worry about the thin layer of unused oil production capacity.

In New York, US light crude last night rose $4.39 to $67.39, after touching a high of $67.50. Analysts expressed doubt about the speed at which Opec could assemble its promised two million barrels per day of output.

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