NEW YORK, — Truckers and motorists woke up to fuel hikes by as much as 20 percent this morning.
Hurricane Katrina and the damage she inflicted on the U.S. Gulf Coast states has sent oil shooting back up beyond $71 a barrel today.

Reports indicate gasoline and diesel have spiked by as much as 20 percent across the U.S. and Canada as damage to oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico becomes clearer, according to Associated Press.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s massive platform is one of the largest Katrina casualties. The facility normally churns out 220,000 barrels of crude and 220 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, AP reports.

About seven oilrigs are adrift, according to reports, while eight refineries have shut down indefinitely.

Oil prices are now more than 60 percent higher than a year ago, although still below the inflation-adjusted high of about $90 a barrel that was set in 1980.

President Bush recently announced he’ll tap the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve of crude oil stockpiles to help refiners — although many analysts say the move will have little, if any impact, on the cost of fuel over the next few months.

Meanwhile, Katrina left most major roads in the Louisiana-Alabama Gulf Coast region damaged or impassible.

Huge parts of coastal road U.S. 90 in Mississippi were heavily damaged by the storm, as was Interstate 10. The U.S. 90 bridge spanning Biloxi Bay in Mississippi was knocked out. Also, Katrina also knocked out a major bridge in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

— from Associated Press