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Hurricane Dean races through Mexico's oil-rich Gulf

VERACRUZ, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Dean raced through Mexico's southern Gulf on Wednesday, whipping up wild winds and roaring seas around oil platforms that produce crude for export to the United States. Dean hammered Mexico's Caribbean resort of Tulum and swallowed sand from the famous beach at Cancun before crossing the Yucatan Peninsula out into the Gulf of Mexico where state oil company Pemex has several hundred wells and other installations. Mexico evacuated over 18,000 Pemex staff and shut down 80 percent of its crude production ahead of the arrival of Dean, which was a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane when it first hit land in Mexico's Caribbean coast.

There was no early word on whether oil platforms were damaged as Dean weakened to a Category 1 and ploughed through Gulf waters in the Campeche Sound. "Pemex is waiting for the hurricane to pass through the Campeche Sound," spokeswoman Martha Avelar said on Tuesday.

The price of oil tumbled more than 2 percent on Tuesday as Dean weakened over the Yucatan, easing concerns the powerful storm would disrupt Mexican and U.S. oil operations. Mexico, one of the top three suppliers of U.S. crude imports, has shut down 2.65 million barrels per day of production -- slightly more than Venezuela's total output -- and closed ports as a precaution. Dean forced tens of thousands of people, including many tourists, into shelters on the Yucatan Peninsula but there were no reports of deaths or serious damage in Mexico.