| US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Thursday that oil and natural gas production in the US Gulf of Mexico area which was hit by hurricanes this summer probably will not recover until next summer. "The infrastructure of our country took a real blow with Hurricanes Rita and Katrina," Bodman told reporters outside the White House. "Even to this day, we have about a third of the natural gas and a third of the oil that is produced in the Gulf of Mexico still shut-in due to the damage that was done," he said. "That's not going to be back up and online, my guess is, until summertime." Bodman urged Americans to step up conservation because short supplies will contribute to high energy prices this heating season. US Gulf Coast area was hit by Hurricane Katrina in August and Rita in September in September resulting in severe damages in the energy production in the area. The US Energy Information Administration recently predicted that households heating primarily with natural gas can expect to spend about 50 percent more this winter. | 
