Brent crude futures on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) fell slightly during early Asian trading hours as the market assessed the potential impact of Tropical Storm Beryl on U.S. oil and gas operations.
As of 12:00 Beijing time, the price of the September contract of Brent crude oil futures was US$86.43 per barrel, down 11 cents from the settlement price on July 5, when the contract fell 89 cents.
The August contract for WTI crude oil futures was trading at $82.95 a barrel, down 21 cents from the settlement price on July 5, when the contract fell 72 cents.
Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to make landfall near Matagorda Island, Texas, as a hurricane early on July 8, bringing heavy rain and high winds to the Houston area.
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), as of 8:00 GMT on July 7, the center of the storm was located about 120 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour, moving northwest at 12 miles per hour.
The storm's path was forecast to move northward to the north of Corpus Christi, which could shield the city's refining and oil export industries from the worst of the conditions. Still, oil company Citgo said its 165,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Corpus Christi was operating at a reduced rate in preparation for the hurricane.
Refiners along the U.S. Gulf Coast have ample fuel inventories to prepare for operational issues that the storm could bring. Disruptions to U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operations appear limited as Beryl's path is to the west of most U.S. offshore oil and gas operations, although some platforms were evacuated late last week. Energy company Chevron said it has begun returning non-essential personnel to its offshore facilities after previously evacuating them.
The weekly U.S. rig count rose by four to 585, according to data released July 5 by oil services firm Baker Hughes, after four consecutive weeks of declines.
The number of active drilling rigs in the United States was 585 in the week ending July 5, down 95 from the same period last year.
The oil and miscellaneous rig counts were unchanged from the previous week, while the gas rig count increased by 4 to 101.
(The above content comes from the latest views of Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)
The article is forwarded from: Jinshi Data
