HOUSTON- Exxon Mobil Corp cut production at its 369,024 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Beaumont, Texas, to minimum rates overnight ahead of a possible shutdown starting as early as Tuesday ahead of Tropical Storm Laura, sources familiar with plant operations said on Tuesday.

The forecast track for the storm has shifted further west to an expected landfall early on Thursday as a major hurricane near the mouth of Sabine River, which runs past Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas.

(Reporting by Erwin Seba Editing by David Goodman ) ((erwin.seba@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713 210 8508; Reuters Messaging: erwin.seba.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))