NEW YORK (Reuters) - Winds from deadly Hurricane Ivan have started to lash the U.S. Gulf Coast from eastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, disrupting the region's oil and natural gas production and imports, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre in Miami says in its latest forecast.

Ivan's maximum sustained winds are near 140 miles per hour with higher gusts, making the storm a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The Hurricane Centre said some fluctuations in strength are likely during the next 24 hours, but Ivan will probably make landfall as a major hurricane, at least Category 3.

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