Oil lower as U.S. producers, refiners avoid worst of storm - Reuters

Oil lower as U.S. producers, refiners avoid worst of storm - Reuters:

Oil prices fell on Friday as storm Laura raced inland past the heart of the U.S. oil industry in Louisiana and Texas without causing any widespread damage to refineries.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures for October, set to expire on Friday, had fallen 19 cents to $44.90 a barrel by 0815 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were down 20 cents to $42.84 a barrel.

“With the U.S. Gulf hurricanes out of the way and preliminary assessment showing no damage to the upstream or downstream facilities, crude has surrendered most of the storm premium and could enter a holding pattern again,” said Vandana Hari, oil market analyst at Vanda Insights.