HURRICANE

Hurricane Jimena formed in the eastern Pacific near the Mexican resort of Acapulco on Saturday, but in the Atlantic Tropical Storm Danny weakened to a tropical depression and storm alerts were discontinued for the North Carolina coast.

What forecasters say will become Hurricane Danny will not evolve from its current tropical storm status until the early part of the weekend and there are no signs from forecasters that it will surpass Category 1, according to a report from AccuWeather.com on Thursday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Danny is likely to be formed into the season's second hurricane later in this week.

Hurricane season officially started on June 1, and the Federal Government, led by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, is prepared to respond alongside the private sector should a hurricane affect the energy infrastructure of the United States.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said on Tuesday that inspections of the Sable Offshore Energy Project off the coast of Nova Scotia have not turned up any damage from Hurricane Bill, which passed over the region on Saturday.

Hurricane Bill brought rain and heavy winds to Nova Scotia in eastern Canada on Sunday, but the Category 1 storm caused little serious damage as it moved northeast toward the region's offshore oil and gas facilities.

Hurricane Bill trekked north toward eastern Canada on Saturday, buffeting the U.S. East Coast with dangerous heavy swells after brushing Bermuda with rain and powerful churning surf.

Hurricane Bill weakened slightly on Friday as it followed a path between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda, but the tiny British territory warned its residents to prepare for dangerous surf and possible flooding.

New York City announced the closure of beaches in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island on Friday in a bid to protect beachgoers against possible big waves as hurricane Bill approaches Bermuda.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Thursday the eye of Hurricane Bill was about 695 miles southeast of Bermuda and expected to reach Canada's Atlantic Maritime Provinces by Sunday.

Hurricane Bill weakened slightly on Thursday but was expected to regain power on a northwest ocean track that will take it between Bermuda, where inhabitants prepared for high winds and heavy seas, and the U.S. East Coast.

Hurricane Bill weakened on Thursday, falling to a Category 3 storm with its winds dropping to 125 mph, but hurricane watchers said it had the potential to reach Category 4 status again.

Hurricane Bill, the first of the 2009 Atlantic season, gathered strength and grew into a dangerous Category 4 storm with sustained winds of up to 135 mph on Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Bill headed west-northwest over the open Atlantic Tuesday on a path toward Bermuda that would likely keep it clear of the U.S. East Coast but could spell trouble for Canada's Maritime Provinces.

Oil was steady above $67 a barrel on Tuesday, after falling the previous day to its lowest level in two weeks, amid persistent worries over the pace of the global economic rebound and revival in energy demand.

Hurricane Bill was centered about 1,100 miles east of the Lesser Antilles on Monday morning and was moving West-Northwest at a speed of about 22 mph. Experts predicted that the Hurricane Bill is likely to make landfall.

Hurricane Bill gained speed and is expected to become the first hurricane of the season as it makes its way toward Bermuda later this week. Ana may dissipate today in the Caribbean according to reports from the National Hurricane Center.

Powerful tropical storm Andres churned off Mexico's Pacific coast on Monday, threatening to brush past the popular beach resort of Zihuatanejo and was expected to build into a hurricane.

The European Union confirmed Friday a proposal to allocate $154 million (€109.4 million) to France from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) for fighting the devastation caused by Hurricane Klaus in south-west France in January.

The season for the Atlantic hurricanes lasted six months, with four storms, surpassing the ten presumed by the forecasts, each one of them receiving its own name.

Hurricane Dean is expected to cost Munich Re less than 100 million euros ($136 million), the reinsurer said on Wednesday, adding that it was sticking to its 2007 earnings forecast.