Oil prices inched lower on Friday as Hurricane Laura passed the heart of the U.S. oil industry in Louisiana and Texas without causing any widespread damage and companies began to restart operations. Brent crude futures for October fell 4 cents to settle at $45.05 a barrel, before expiring on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 7 cents to $42.97 a barrel.
Both benchmarks notched weekly gains of about 1.5%, with WTI rising for a fourth straight week. The benchmarks hit five-month highs during the week as U.S. producers cut crude output ahead of Laura at a rate close to the level of 2005`s Hurricane Katrina.
"The oil trade has been featured by strong advances at the start of the week as a sizable amount of storm premium was pumped into the market ahead of Hurricane Laura, followed by a major erasure of hurricane premium following the storm`s arrival as limited impact on offshore crude production or refinery activity was indicated," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates.
Reuters
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