Investing.com — Oil prices recovered Wednesday from a deep decline a day earlier as traders shifted their focus to possible supply disruptions from the impact of Hurricane Francine, which is set to make landfall later this evening.
At 1:39 PM ET (1539 GMT), November expiring futures rose 2.3% to $70.77 per barrel, while crude oil futures rose 2.8% to $67.56 per barrel.
Francine becomes a hurricane and production in the Gulf of Mexico is affected
Francine became a category one hurricane Tuesday evening, and the storm was expected to make landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday.
The storm will cut a path of destruction across the US Mid-South in the coming days, causing a slew of oil and gas producers to shut down production in the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for about 15% of total US crude production.
The region accounts for about 15% of U.S. oil production, with any production disruptions likely to tighten supply in the near term.
US inventories rose less than expected
Data from reported US oil inventories rose by 833,000 barrels in the week to September 6, compared to expectations for a rise of 900,000.
Gasoline inventories, meanwhile, rose by 2.3 million barrels, clouding expectations for a 400,000 barrel drawdown. While distillate inventories rose by 2.3 million, well above the 300,000 barrels that economists had expected.
(Scott Kanowsky and Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.)
