CAMPECHE, Mexico, (Reuters) – Tropical depression  Alex moved into the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, prompting the  closure of two key Mexican oil ports and was likely to regain  storm status today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center  said.

The storm was not an imminent threat to oil-siphoning  efforts at BP Plc’s blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf, the  U.S. Coast Guard said on Saturday.

But Shell Oil Co shut subsea production at the Auger and  Brutus platforms in the Gulf due to the storm threat. On  Saturday, it evacuated non-essential workers from production  platforms and drilling rigs in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf  of Mexico oilfields.

The Mexican government kept the ports of Dos Bocas and Cayo  Arcas, which handle 80 percent of all its export shipping in  the Gulf of Mexico, closed  on Sunday afternoon citing bad  weather and strong surf in the area.
State-run oil giant Pemex said its platforms in the  Campeche Sound were working normally and there was no  evacuation plan yet ahead of the arrival of Alex.