WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices rose sharply on Thursday due to the impact of Hurricane Delta on crude output in the Gulf of Mexico, and on hopes the U.S. policymakers will come out with some sort of stimulus sometime soon.
According to an estimate from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, oil production will likely fall nearly 92% in the Gulf of Mexico region due to shutting down of facilities. Natural gas output likely fell close to 62% due to the impact of the hurricane.
Traders were also weighing possible production outages in the North Sea because of a strike by oil workers.
Another positive for oil prices was the report that Saudi Arabia may consider cancelling OPEC's plans to increase oil output early next year.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $1.24 or about 3.1% at $41.19 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were moving up $0.86 or about 2% at $42.85 a barrel.
The outage from the ongoing strike in Norway's oil and gas industry will grow to 966,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) by Oct. 14, unless a solution to the conflict is found in the meantime, the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association said today.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
