Oil rises as storm approaches Gulf of Mexico production hub | Reuters

Oil rises as storm approaches Gulf of Mexico production hub | Reuters

Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to post big gains for the week, on worries about supply disruptions as energy companies began shutting production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a possible hurricane forecast to hit on the weekend.

Brent crude futures rose 72 cents, or 1%, to $71.79 a barrel at 0855 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 80 cents, or 1.2%, to $68.22 a barrel.

For the week, Brent is on track for a rise of about 10% this week, its biggest weekly jump since June 2020. WTI is headed for a weekly gain of more than 9%, which would be its strongest rise since October 2020.

"Energy traders are pushing crude prices higher in anticipation of disruptions in output in the Gulf of Mexico and on growing expectations OPEC+ might resist raising output given the recent Delta variant impact over crude demand," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA told Reuters.