"if it hits the rigs"
If it hits rigs??
the chance of catastrophic damage to much of the gulf's oil infrastructure is nearly 100%. Oil will probably hit $70 on Monday or Tue and be in the mid 80s by Sept 15th.
And it wont be like the oil rigs can get up and running when the storm passes. Many will be sunk or damaged beyond repair. Oil production wont return to normanl until 2006.
the question is how much longer can the US economy withstand high energy prices without falling into a deep recession?
If it hits rigs??
Agreed, there's no "if" involved. Rigs are most likely all evacuated by now and the equipment isn't going to fare well in cat 5 winds.