By Barani Krishnan
Investing.com - Crude prices edged up on Monday on optimism over U.S. authorization of a blood plasma treatment for Covid-19. But gains were limited by worries about the impact on demand from two storms barreling toward the Gulf Coast that forced a sweeping shutdown of the oil sector.
Some 82.4% of U.S. offshore oil production was shut on Monday due to twin storms Marco and Laura. Typically, in a tightly supplied market, outage caused by the U.S. hurricane season can push energy prices sharply higher. But with demand for fuel being questionable due the coronavirus pandemic, the impact has been minimal.
“The end result of this week’s tropical storms will be marginally supportive to products,” said Scott Shelton, energy futures broker at ICAP (LON:NXGN) in Durham, North Carolina. “But the possibilities of damage due to either wind or rain on infrastructure don’t look severe.”
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude futures, rose 28 cents, or 0.7%, at $42.62 per barrel.
London-traded Brent, the bellwether for global crude prices, closed the New York session up 78 cents, or 1.8%, at $45.13.