Investing.com – Crude oil futures edged higher on Wednesday, climbing to a three-day high on the back of a broadly weaker U.S. dollar, while fears over a disruption to supplies in the Gulf of Mexico also lent support.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at USD87.13 a barrel during European morning trade, jumping 1.29%.
It earlier rose as much as 1.5% to trade at USD87.37 a barrel, the highest price since September 2.
The broadly weaker U.S. dollar traded lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, giving back some of the previous day’s gains made in the wake of a currency intervention by the Swiss National Bank.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.69% to trade at 75.54.
Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Crude prices found further support after the U.S. National Hurricane Center said late Tuesday that a storm system in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche has a 40% chance of strengthening into a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said that nearly 60.5% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut in as of Tuesday after Tropical Storm Lee passed through the region.
Meanwhile, markets were awaiting fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Thursday’s government report could show stockpiles fell by 2.2 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles were projected to drop by 1.4 million barrels.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery rose 0.42% to trade at USD113.61 a barrel.
The spread between the two contracts narrowed to USD26.48 a barrel, after closing at a record high of USD26.87 on Tuesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at USD87.13 a barrel during European morning trade, jumping 1.29%.
It earlier rose as much as 1.5% to trade at USD87.37 a barrel, the highest price since September 2.
The broadly weaker U.S. dollar traded lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, giving back some of the previous day’s gains made in the wake of a currency intervention by the Swiss National Bank.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.69% to trade at 75.54.
Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Crude prices found further support after the U.S. National Hurricane Center said late Tuesday that a storm system in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche has a 40% chance of strengthening into a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said that nearly 60.5% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut in as of Tuesday after Tropical Storm Lee passed through the region.
Meanwhile, markets were awaiting fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products to gauge the strength of oil demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Thursday’s government report could show stockpiles fell by 2.2 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles were projected to drop by 1.4 million barrels.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for October delivery rose 0.42% to trade at USD113.61 a barrel.
The spread between the two contracts narrowed to USD26.48 a barrel, after closing at a record high of USD26.87 on Tuesday.