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Oil prices rose more than 1% yesterday amid concerns about the impact of Hurricane Frances on production in the United States, the world’s largest producer of crude oil, but fears of falling demand limited gains.
Brent crude futures for November rose $1, or 1.4%, to $71.61 a barrel during trading. U.S. crude futures for October rose 92 cents, or 1.4%, to $68.23 a barrel.
Crude futures rose more than 2 percent in the previous session as offshore platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut down and refineries were disrupted by Hurricane Francine making landfall in southern Louisiana on Tuesday.
But as the hurricane neared its end after making landfall, the oil market’s attention once again turned to falling demand.
The Energy Information Administration said yesterday that U.S. oil inventories rose last week as crude imports grew and exports fell. The data also showed that gasoline demand fell to its lowest level since May at the same time as distillate demand fell. Refinery utilization also fell. The United States is the world’s largest oil consumer.
Earlier in the week, OPEC cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and also trimmed its forecast for next year, the second downward revision in a row.
