Hurricane Jose moved from a “major hurricane” to “extremely dangerous” category 4 storm, the National Hurricane Center reported Friday.
Jose was a Category 3 on Thursday afternoon, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 120 miles per hour, but was reclassified as Category 4 at 10 a.m. on Friday after maintaining wind speeds of near 150 mph.
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Jose is the latest in a seemingly non-stop chain of major storms following almost directly behind Category 5 Irma’s path of devastation through the Caribbean.
The American Petroleum Institute held a call on Friday with energy market experts to examine the impacts of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Jose on the oil and gasoline markets.
Guy Caruso, former director of the federal Energy Information Administration under George W. Bush, on the call said Irma’s impacts on the energy sector will be aimed at refined products like diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. The hurricane will hit major fuel pipelines as opposed to the harm inflicted on crude oil refiners by flooding in the aftermath of Harvey.
Experts on the call said there is a rumor that the government is poised to waive Jones Act restrictions on tankers moving fuel into Florida before Irma hits the state. The Jones Act restricts the use of foreign-made tankers to move shipments of oil, or refined products, between U.S. ports.
Jack Gerard, API’s president and CEO, opened the call by saying Jose is also on the radar screen in dealing with impacts from the storms.
