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Brent crude <LCOc1> futures for October, which
expire on Friday, fell 25 cents, or, 0.6% to $45.39 a barrel by
1223 GMT. The more active November Brent contract <LCOc2> was
down 28 cents, or 0.6%, at $45.88 per barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude <CLc1> futures fell 26
cents or 0.6% to $43.13 a barrel.
Hurricane Laura made landfall early on Thursday in southwestern
Louisiana as a category 4 storm, one of the most powerful to hit
the state, with forecasters warning it could push a wall of
water 40 miles inland from the sea.
Oil producers on Tuesday had shut 1.56 million barrels per day
(bpd) of crude output, or 84% of the Gulf of Mexico's
production, evacuating 310 offshore facilities.
At the same time, refiners that convert nearly 2.33 million bpd
of crude oil into fuel, and account for about 12% of U.S.
processing, halted operations.
"Perhaps traders are waiting to see what the damage is but the
limited impact so far may also just be a reflection of the
current oil market dynamics. Temporary disruptions are easily
covered," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said.
Oil prices also shrugged off U.S. crude inventory declines and
signs that gasoline demand in the world's biggest oil consumer
were improving.
Crude oil stockpiles fell last week as exports soared the most
in 18 months and refineries boosted production to the highest
rate since March, Energy Information Administration data showed
on Wednesday. Gasoline stocks also fell. [EIA/S]
"It appears that the gasoline inventory reduction was due first
and foremost to increased demand – gasoline demand rose to a
six-month high of around 9.2 million bpd," Commerzbank said.
(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul and Koustav Samanta;
editing by Jason Neely)
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