Mideast cyclone powers towards Oman

DUBAI, June 5 (Reuters) A powerful cyclone bore down on Oman today, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from Masirah Island in the Arabian Sea and closing the country's main gas export terminal.

A weather service official told Oman state television Tropical Cyclone Gonu, which earlier reached the equivalent of a maximum-force Category Five hurricane, was expected to be worse than a destructive one that hit the island in 1977.

He forecast floods and torrential rain.

A shipping agent told Reuters Oman's Sur export terminal, which handles 10 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas exports had been closed because of the approaching storm and the Mina al Fahal oil terminal, that ships all Oman's 650,000 barrels per day of oil exports, was likely to shut soon, The Sultan Qaboos port, which handles vehicles and containers, was also closed, another shipping source said.

Oil prices surged above 70 dollars yeserday on news of the cyclone, possibly the most powerful storm to have formed in the Gulf region that supplies a fifth of the world's oil.

''It's quite common to have heavy rains at this time of year in Oman,'' said a Western executive based in Muscat.

''But this weather is quite unusual and they're calling it the worst in Oman's modern history.'' Oman's position at the mouth of the Gulf made it particularly vulnerable to the approaching storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (mph) -- the equivalent of a Category Three hurricane -- at 1405 hrs, the US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

An Omani oil ministry official said earlier oil exports were continuing as normal for the time being. ''I am not far from the Mina al Fahal export terminal and the seas are OK,'' he said.

To the west of Oman, the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, said its main oil region would not be affected.

The US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast that, after passing Oman, the storm would head towards Iran across the Gulf of Oman, a major shipping channel.

''The current forecast keeps the eye of Gonu over water as it brushes by Oman and then turns the system toward southern Iran,'' Kevin Roth, senior meteorologist at the Weather Channel, wrote on the company's Web site (www.weatherchannel.com).

If so, wind speeds would slow to 75 mph, Roth wrote.

He said the storm would pass Oman today late afternoon or evening, U.S. time. The last hurricane-strength tropical storm to hit Oman was in May 2002, Roth said.

DTN Meteorlogix said the storm, with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph and gusts up to 195 mph, was expected to decrease in intensity before making landfall in Oman tomorrow.

A shipping agent for nearby OPEC member the United Arab Emirates said yesterday no warning had been issued there.

Operations at the United Arab Emirates' port of Fujairah were continuing as normal.

A Dubai-based shipping agent also said no official warning had been sent to his company.

Reuters SYU GC1601