HOUSTON, July 8 (Reuters) - The Texas energy industry

braced for storm Beryl's impact on Monday, with threats from the

intensifying weather system forcing the closure of key oil and

gas shipping ports, slowing refining and prompting the

evacuation of some production sites.

Beryl, which national forecasters say could strengthen into

a Category 2 hurricane when it makes U.S. landfall - expected in

the early morning hours in the middle-Texas coast - poses

problems for the heart of the country's energy sector.

Texas produces the most oil and natural gas, or more than

40% and 20%, respectively, of any area of the United States.

Over the weekend, the port of Corpus Christi, which is the

country's leading crude oil export hub, closed operations and

vessel traffic in preparation for Beryl. The ports of Houston,

Galveston, Freeport and Texas City also shut ahead of the

landfall.

Chemical company Chemours Co ( CC ) said on Sunday that it

was prepared to adjust staffing and secure equipment during and

after the storm passed, while Freeport LNG said it had its

hurricane preparedness plan in place.

Enbridge Inc ( ENB ), which runs crude oil export

facilities near Corpus Christi, also said it had activated

emergency plans for assets along or near the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Citgo Petroleum Corp, meanwhile, was reducing production

over the weekend at its 165,000 barrel-per-day Corpus Christi,

Texas, refinery, sources said.

Producers, including Shell and Chevron ( CVX ),

also shut in production or evacuated personnel from their Gulf

of Mexico offshore platforms.

More than 26,000 homes and businesses were without power in

Texas as of Sunday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.

Texas-based electric utility CenterPoint said in an email

that it was "closely monitoring the situation and making

preparations."

The storm is forecast to turn north-eastward and move

farther inland over eastern Texas and Arkansas late Monday and

Tuesday.