Oil hits 5-month highs as U.S. producers cut output ahead of hurricane | Financial Post

Oil hits 5-month highs as U.S. producers cut output ahead of hurricane | Financial Post:

Crude oil prices rose to a five-month high on Tuesday as U.S. producers shut most offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Laura even as rising coronavirus cases in Asia and Europe capped gains.

Brent futures rose 73 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $45.86 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 73 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $43.35.

That was the highest closes for both benchmarks since March 5, the day before Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to agree on a new plan to cut output and about a week before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

U.S. producers cut crude output ahead of Hurricane Laura at a rate approaching the level of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina and also halted most oil refining along the Texas/Louisiana coast.