US Gulf workers flee ahead of storm

Offshore production unaffected

HOUSTON, Texas - Shell Oil Co said non-essential workers from production platforms and drilling rigs in US-regulated areas of Gulf of Mexico oilfields were being evacuated on the weekend due to the forecast path of Tropical Storm Alex.

The storm, which was close to Belize late on Saturday, was not expected to complicate efforts to contain BP Plc's blown-out undersea oil well about 64 km (40 miles) south of the Louisiana coast, said US Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the top US oil spill official.