NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — The Houston Ship Channel, which serves the largest US petroleum port, reopened yesterday morning, a day after it was shut to inbound traffic as Hurricane Gustav pounded the Gulf Coast.

Port restrictions were lifted at 8:45 a.m. local time, the US Coast Guard said in a statement posted on its Web site. About 49 ships were waiting to enter Galveston Bay, which serves the ports of Houston, Texas City and Galveston, according to the statement. Three vessels were waiting to leave.

Houston has the second-biggest US port of any kind by tonnage.

The area's eight refineries have a combined processing capacity of 2.22 million barrels a day, which represents 13 percent of the US total, according to their owners and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.