About 39% of crude oil production and 49% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut on Wednesday as hurricane Francine barreled toward the Louisiana coast, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.

What was Tropical Storm Francine became Hurricane Francine on Tuesday evening ahead of an expected landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday, which has prompted widespread watches and warnings for the Gulf Coast that includes a hurricane watch for the New Orleans area.

Meteorologists are tracking Hurricane Francine as it makes its way northeast through the western Gulf of Mexico. The storm is expected to make landfall as a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 96 mph somewhere along Louisiana's southwestern coastline on Wednesday.