Oil prices gain on US hurricane impact concerns
Shafaq News/Oil prices rose during Asian trade on Thursday, spurred by concerns ofHurricane Francine impacting output in the U.S., the world's biggest crudeproducer, though worries of lower demand capped gains.
Brent crudefutures for November were up 40 cents, or 0.6% at $71.01 a barrel at 0330 GMT.U.S. crude futures for October were up 32 cents, or 0.5%, at $67.63 a barrel.
Bothcontracts rose by over $1, or more than 2%, in the previous session as offshoreplatforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut and refinery operations on thecoast disrupted by Hurricane Francine's landfall in southern Louisiana onWednesday.
"Bothbenchmarks, WTI and Brent, seem to have found some ground amid worries ofdisrupted U.S. oil supplies," said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior marketanalyst at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Nova.
"Theregion accounts for about 15% of U.S. oil production, with any disruptions inproduction likely to tighten supplies in the near term."
But with thestorm set to eventually dissipate after making landfall, the oil market'sattention again turned to lower demand.
U.S. oilstockpiles rose across the board last week as crude imports grew and exportsdipped, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
The dataalso showed gasoline demand fell to its lowest since May at the same timedistillate fuel demand dropped, with refinery runs also declining. The U.S. isthe world's biggest oil consumer.
Earlier inthe week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut itsforecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and also trimmed its expectationfor next year, its second consecutive downward revision.
"Oiltraders are now looking ahead to International Energy Agency's monthly marketreport later this week for any signs of a weakening demand outlook," ANZResearch said in a note on Thursday.
(Reuters)
