Oil Prices Fall as US Storm Threat Eases

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as a tropical storm hitting the US Gulf Coast weakened and had a lower impact on production than initially expected. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $69.14 per barrel, down 73 cents, or 1%, from their last settlement, CNBC reported. International Brent crude futures fell 60 cents, or 0.8%, to $77.57 a barrel. Prices had jumped the previous day, as dozens of US oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were shut in anticipation of damage from tropical storm Gordon. However, the storm had shifted eastward by Wednesday and was weakening, reducing its threat to producers on the western side of the gulf. Stephen Innes, the head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA, said many crude futures traders were “caught long and wrong over the past 24 hours due to the tropical storm buying frenzy”, adding that “prices pulled back considerably as the magnitude of the storm suggests production losses will be limited”.