Oil companies began shutting offshore drilling operations on Sunday as part of preparations in the wake of tropical storm Sally. The storm which is predicted to turn into a hurricane in next two days is currently off the coast of Florida in the Atlantic Ocean. 

The landfall of Sally is expected in next two days

Royal Dutch Shell began shutting some of its offshore drilling operations on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Sally is not projected to approach the size or intensity of Hurricane Laura in August, but it will cause up to 12-foot (4.2m) swells offshore, said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist for DTN, an energy, agriculture and weather data provider.

The storm strengthened as it crept up the warm waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, carrying winds that could reach 100 miles per hour (160 kph) ahead of landfall on Tuesday, forecasters said.

Sally was upgraded to an “extremely dangerous” potential Category 2 hurricane. It was about 300 miles (482 km) from the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving at 13 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. At 8 a.m. EDT, its sustained winds had increased to 50 mph, the NHC said.

Chevron Corp. and Murphy Oil Corp on Saturday began evacuations from offshore production platforms, spokespeople said. Chevron`s Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery was implementing storm preparedness procedures, the company said.

Other oil producers with drilling rigs and platforms in the area said they were monitoring the storm and prepared to take action as needed.