LOOP halts tanker offloading in Gulf of Mexico due to Ida

* Fast-moving Hurricane Ida strengthens

* Louisiana Offshore Oil Port stops tanker offloading

* LOOP supplying refiners, receiving crude via pipeline

HOUSTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Fast-moving, strengthening Hurricane Ida was disrupting offshore oilpatch operations in U.S.-regulated areas of the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday as it churned through the Yucatan Strait between Mexico and Cuba.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), which takes in an average 1 million barrels of foreign crude from cargo ships daily, stopped offloading tankers shortly after noon CST Sunday (1800 GMT) due to deteriorating sea conditions, according to a spokeswoman.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said its operations in the Gulf of Mexico were continuing as normal while the company monitors the storm's progress.

The LOOP continues to supply U.S. Gulf Coast refineries from tens of millions of barrels of oil stored onshore despite the halt to tanker offloading, said LOOP spokeswoman Barb Hestermann.

The LOOP also continues receiving via pipeline 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in oil from the Mars and Thunder Horse production platforms in the Gulf, Hestermann said.

"We may not be offloading tankers Monday and Tuesday as well," she said.

The LOOP is the only U.S. port capable of handling the largest crude oil tankers.

Hurricane Ida was packing 100 mile-per-hour (161 kph) winds on Sunday, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center, which rated it a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

Ida is forecast to strike the U.S. Gulf Coast between Louisiana and Florida sometime Tuesday morning, the Hurricane Center said.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for 25 percent of U.S. oil production and about 15 percent of national natural gas output. according to the U.S. government. (Reporting by Erwin Seba, editing by Maureen Bavdek)