Crude falls as Hurricane Beryl fears fade

BRENT and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed down on Tuesday as fears of supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl faded throughout the day on Tuesday.

Brent crude futures settled down 36 cents, or 0.42 per cent, at US$86.24 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled at US$82.81 a barrel, down 57 cents or 0.68 per cent.

Earlier on Monday, WTI rose US$1 to US$84.38 a barrel on fears Beryl might have a wider impact in offshore oil production areas in the US-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico as US demand for motor fuels is increasing.

Both benchmarks gained about 2 per cent in the previous session.

But as new forecasts emerged on Monday, traders were less fearful of supply problems, said Phil Flynn, analyst with the Price Futures Group.

“Markets came to the realization that Beryl is not going to shut down any major amounts of offshore oil production,” Flynn said. “We may see some shut, but its going to have a minimal impact on platforms.”

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Hurricane Beryl is a dangerous Category 5 hurricane tearing through the Caribbean Sea. It is expected to have weakened into a tropical storm by the time it enters the Gulf of Mexico late this week, according to the US National Hurricane Centre.

“We dodged a bullet on Beryl,” said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital LLC. “But, there definitely is an understanding that any storm that develops in the Gulf is going to be a big one.”

US petrol demand is expected to peak this week with travel for the Independence Day holiday on Thursday. American Automobile Association has forecast that travel during the holiday period will be 5.2 per cent higher than in 2023, with car travel up 4.8 per cent. REUTERS