Singapore — Oil was steady on Thursday, holding gains from the previous session after another fall in US crude inventories indicated a tighter market, and as a tropical storm was heading for oil producing facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were up 1c at $52.58 a barrel at 4.38am GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 4c at $48.37 a barrel. Both crude futures contracts rose more than 1% on Wednesday, also buoyed by potential output disruptions from the Gulf of Mexico storm. "For the next few days, the US market is going to be focused on Texas as the tropical depression Harvey is expected to strengthen into a Category I hurricane by Friday," Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta, said in a note. "Operators in the area are already closing down platforms and evacuating workers as a precaution," he said. Harvey strengthened into a tropical storm late on Wednesday night with winds of...
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