London — Brent oil prices firmed on Thursday, hovering near three-and-a-half month highs as US refiners, restarting after Hurricane Harvey, increased their crude processing and the US dollar declined. Brent crude futures were up 39c at $54.59 a barrel by 9.21am GMT, close to their highest since May 25. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 8c at $49.24 a barrel, near a four-week high. US Gulf Coast facilities were slowly recovering from the devastating effects of Harvey, which hammered Louisiana and Texas almost two weeks ago, shutting key infrastructure in the heart of the US oil and natural gas industry. As of Wednesday, about 3.8-million barrels of daily refining capacity, or some 20% of the US total, was shut in, although a number of refineries, as well as petroleum-handling ports, were starting up again. Prices also received a boost from a weakening US dollar, in which oil is priced. Because of this, a lower dollar makes it less expensive for holders of other c...
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