MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A tropical wave moving over Central America is set to hit the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, bringing high winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, possible affecting Mexico's oil ports.
The wave -- a large area of disorganized showers -- has a 20 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours and would be the first named storm of the Atlantic season.
"This system is forecast to emerge over the Bay of Campeche on Monday where upper-level winds are expected to become somewhat conducive for development," the Miami-based center said in a statement on Sunday.
Currently moving over Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, the wave is moving west-northwestward at 10 mph to 15 mph, the center added.
Mexico is a top oil exporter to the United States and almost all of its crude oil exports are shipped to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast from its three Gulf of Mexico ports: Dos Bocas, Cayo Arcas and Coatzacoalcos.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott in Monterrey; Editing by Vicki Allen)
