Oil prices continued to rise during trading on Thursday, September 12, continuing to recover after Brent crude fell to its lowest level in about 3 years earlier this week, with the latest developments of Hurricane Francine and its impact on production in America.
In terms of trading, Brent crude futures rose by about 1.5% to $71.62 per barrel. US crude futures also rose by 1.4% to $68.26 per barrel.
Crude oil futures rose by more than 2% in the previous session with the closure of offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in America and the disruption of refining operations due to Hurricane Francine making landfall in southern Louisiana yesterday, Wednesday.
But as the hurricane nears its end after making landfall, the oil market's attention has once again turned to the decline in demand.
Prices received negative data this week after OPEC cut its global crude demand growth estimate for 2024, now expecting demand to grow by 80,000 bpd to 2 million bpd for 2024. It also cut its global crude demand growth forecast by 40,000 bpd to 1.7 million bpd for 2025.
Separately, the Energy Information Administration revealed yesterday that US crude inventories rose last week as crude imports grew and exports fell. The data also showed that gasoline demand fell to its lowest level since May at the same time as distillate demand fell, with refinery runs also falling.
