Energy recovery moving quickly after Storm Edouard

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. oil patch's recovery from Tropical Storm Edouard appeared unlikely to take much longer than the storm's 48-hour charge across the northern Gulf of Mexico before becoming a tropical depression over east Texas on Tuesday afternoon.

Offshore production and refinery output was reduced by only fractions compared with the devastating hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Tuesday 6 percent of offshore crude oil production was shut and 12.3 percent of natural gas output remained offline.

Four of five refineries affected by the storm said they were restoring production by Tuesday afternoon.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico supplies about a quarter of the country's crude oil output and 15 percent of its natural gas, while Gulf Coast refiners make about a quarter of domestic gasoline.

U.S. crude oil futures ignored Edouard for a second day on Tuesday, settling down $2.24 a barrel at $119.17, after tumbling as low as $118, the lowest price since May 5. .

Of the five affected refineries, Marathon Oil's MRO.N 76,000 barrel per day refinery in Texas City, Texas, remained shut, a precaution taken when Edouard menaced the Houston-Texas City area.

Shell Oil (RDSa.L) and Valero Energy (VLO.N) said they were returning their Port Arthur, Texas, refineries to full output.