Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Friday amid possible near-term disruptions in oil and natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico region due to the impact of Hurricane Ida.
According to reports, the hurricane will likely make landfall along the U.S. northern Gulf Coast this weekend.
The dollar's weakness after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in his speech at the Jackson Hole symposium that the central bank will likely begin to reduce its monthly bond purchases before the end of this year, and that rate hikes are unlikely to happen anytime soon.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $1.32 or about 2% at $68.74 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained more than 10% in the week.
Brent crude futures were up $1.40 or about 2% at 71.59 a barrel a little while ago.
Traders assessed the prospect of supply outages as energy companies began shutting in production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a potential hurricane forecast to hit on the weekend.
BHP and BP said they have begun to stop production at offshore platforms as a storm was brewing in the Caribbean Sea.
The storm is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico tonight and will be hit by a powerful hurricane this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile, a report from Baker Hughes shows the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil increased by five to 410 this week, marking the fourth weekly increase in a row. The total active U.S. rig count climbed by five to 508.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
source http://www.mt5.com/forex_news/quickview/2181774/
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