By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Oil prices moved down in range-bound trading on Thursday as one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the U.S. energy industry in more than a century-and-half appeared to have caused damage that was not too worrying to oil refineries.
Hurricane Laura scored a near-direct hit on refineries located between East Texas and West Louisiana as it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane before dawn on Thursday. It eventually lost strength and turned into a tropical storm.
As of afternoon, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said 46.2% of the 643 manned platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, including 307 operating rigs, had been shuttered and workers on them evacuated.
Yet, the storm itself itself might make no more than a blip on U.S. energy operations, said analysts who are monitoring the situation.
“it is incredible how quickly the U.S. energy industry will try to bounce back,” Phil Flynn, commentator at Price Futures Group in Chicago said, responding to a report by Tanker Trackers that no sooner after the hurricane made landfall, crude carrying vessels seemed to be heading to their intended spots after initially seeking shelter at the far west end of the Gulf of Mexico off Corpus Christi and Brownsville, Texas.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude futures, settled down 35 cents, or 0.8%, at $43.04 per barrel.
London-traded Brent, the bellwether for global crude prices, closed the New York session down 56 cents, or 1.2%, at $45.60.