Aug. 5--Energy companies with Gulf Coast operations scrambled Monday to make the last of their emergency preparations as forecasts showed Tropical Storm Edouard will pound the Texas and Louisiana coastlines.

The hurried responses came after the storm's surprise appearance this weekend and included evacuations of some offshore oil platforms and drilling rigs and at least one oil refinery shutdown.

The storm developed fast and relatively close to the Gulf Coast, leaving most oil and gas infrastructure in deeper waters unaffected.

Refineries and chemical producers along the Texas Gulf Coast, however, were more vulnerable because of the long lead times needed to shut down equipment safely and the threat that strong winds or flooding could knock out production.

Still, the storm drew a yawn from various markets Monday as oil, natural gas and gasoline futures fell.

Analysts attributed the calm reaction to expectations that the storm will have little impact on oil and gas production and refinery output, combined with robust inventories and reduced demand.

"Two or three months ago, these developments would have prompted a buying frenzy," Ritterbusch and Associates of Galena, Ill., said in a note to investors. "However, relatively minor supply-side events can be easily absorbed within an environment of surplus product supplies and declining demand."

Gene McGillian, an analyst with Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn., added that if a number of refineries shut down operations, energy markets probably would have been more bullish. But before markets opened Monday, Edouard "was already discounted as not being the real deal."

"It seems like a combination of people discounting the threat and how quickly it looks like it's going to disappear," he said.

Major oil companies including Shell, BP and Chevron Corp., as well as some independents including Anadarko Petroleum Corp., were evacuating some workers from offshore platforms in the western and central Gulf of Mexico and monitoring the storm. But as of early Monday evening, they expected deep-water oil and gas production to continue.

Smaller operators with producing fields closer to shore evacuated workers and shut down production. Houston's Contango Oil & Gas Co. evacuated workers and shut in production of 2,000 barrels of oil per day at operations less than 10 miles from Louisiana's shoreline.

The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service said Edouard idled 7.2 percent of the Gulf's natural gas production and less than 1 percent of its oil production.

As a precaution, Houston's Marathon Oil Corp. said it started shutting down its 72,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Texas City. Dow Chemical Co. also shut down plants in the Clear Lake area and La Porte.

Other companies said they were securing equipment and making backup staffing plans but weren't moving to close facilities.