Singapore — Oil prices rose on Friday as US crude production was hit harder by Hurricane Harvey than expected, with even bigger storm Irma heading for Florida and threatening to cause more disruption to the petroleum industry. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 14c or 0.3% at $49.23 a barrel at 4.56am GMT, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the US, were up 26c at $54.75 a barrel, just shy of their Friday peak of $54.79, their highest level since April. "WTI may break higher as storms limit crude processing … US oil production facilities haven’t fully recovered from Hurricane Harvey," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at futures brokerage Forex.com. Hurricane Harvey hit the US Gulf coast two weeks ago, and crude prices initially slumped because almost a quarter of the country’s huge refinery industry was knocked out by the storm, cutting demand for crude oil, refining’s lifeblood. But as the refinery sector gradually recovers, so is its c...
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