Gustav, a Category One hurricane -- the lowest on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale -- was headed next toward Jamaica and Cuba, then into the Gulf of Mexico on the weekend, where it could threaten off-shore oil rigs.

That threat led to a spike in the price of oil.

Fay, which pummeled the Caribbean last week, left at least 47 people dead or missing, most of them in Haiti. The storm killed 11 more people in Florida.

Gustav was packing sustained winds of 150 kilometers (90 miles) per hour, with higher gusts, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in a statement.

The hurricane was expected to strengthen over warm Caribbean waters on its march towards Cuba. Cuban forecasters said they expect Gustav to be at least a Category Two hurricane by the time it reaches the island Wednesday afternoon.

Gustav made landfall in southwestern Haiti at around 1 pm (1700 GMT), and about one hour later its center was located about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the Hurricane Center said.

Heavy rain from Gustav "will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," the Center's statement read.

Gustav was moving in a northwestern direction at 16 kilometers (10 miles) per hour, and was expected to move over southwestern Haiti, and then "near or just south of eastern Cuba on Wednesday," the Center said.

The hurricane is expected to dump between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) total accumulation of rain on island of Hispaniola -- shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic -- as well as eastern Cuba and Jamaica, "with isolated maximum amounts of up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) possible.

Oil prices climbed in part due to the potential threat to US energy facilities in the Gulf, traders said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, climbed 1.16 dollars to close at 116.27 dollars a barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for October added 60 cents to settle at 114.63 dollars.

"Gustav continues to represent a potential threat to oil and gas installations in the Gulf region and will be watched with vigilance," warned Barclays Capital analysts in a note to clients.

Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said it was planning to evacuate some staff from its Gulf facilities because of Gustav.

"Given the current track for Gustav and the expectation that it might enter the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, we are making logistical arrangements to evacuate staff who are not essential to production or drilling operations," Shell said in a statement.

"Evacuations could begin as early as Wednesday. There is no impact on production at this time."

The Haitian government urged its population to take precautions and appealed for international help to deal with the storm's aftermath.

"In the face of the danger threatening Haiti, I ask national civil protection committees and our friends in international cooperation to help the government manage the risks and disasters," Interior Minister Paul-Antoine Bien-Aime said on national television.

The Dominican Republic also issued a hurricane warning for the southwest of the country.

In Cuba, authorities issued a hurricane watch, urging residents to take "protective measures." Cuba's Institute of Meteorology (ISMET) warned of "risks of flooding and landslides" throughout the most seriously affected southern region.

In the Dominican Republic, officials ordered 4,600 people to leave flood-prone areas. Of those, 1,800 people moved into government shelters while the rest went to family and friends, the government's emergency operations center (COE) said.

Gustav formed over the Caribbean Sea on Monday, becoming the seventh tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.

jco-burs/ch/ksb

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