Hurricane Igor strengthening fast over Atlantic

Hurricane Igor was strengthening quickly over the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday and on track to become a dangerous storm as it churned westward.

Igor, which became the fourth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season late on Saturday, posed no immediate threat to land or energy interests.

But the US National Hurricane Center said Igor was now a a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, swirling toward the west with top winds of 105 miles (165km) per hour.

It was expected to become a "major" Category 4 storm by sometime on Monday, the Miami-based hurricane centre said. A Category 4 hurricane is capable of causing catastrophic damage and has maximum sustained winds 155 miles (249km) an hour.

At 11 am (1500 GMT), Igor was located about 1,145 miles (1,840km)  east of the Caribbean's northern Leeward Islands.

Behind Igor, the hurricane centre said a tropical depression off the southernmost Cape Verde islands was likely to become Tropical Storm Julia later on Sunday.

Computer models have projected Igor would stay in the Atlantic for the coming days and not enter the Gulf of Mexico, where US oil and gas operations are clustered.

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season was predicted to be extremely active by most forecasters. Besides Igor, three hurricanes - Alex, Danielle and Earl - formed earlier in the season, the last two reaching Category 4 strength.

Several forecasters have said they expect the season to produce in all some five major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or stronger.