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The Today's News

Oil prices ease as US facilities avoid hurricane's fury

SINGAPORE: Crude oil prices fell in Asian trade Thursday as supply concerns eased after Hurricane Isaac left production facilities in the US Gulf of Mexico relatively unscathed, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, shed 42 cents to $95.07 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for October slid nine cents to $112.45. Supply concerns arising from damage to facilities in the US Gulf from Hurricane Isaac proved unfounded and depressed prices, said Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at Ernst and Young. "Most of the production facilities were shut down in advance of the storm, but early reports indicated fairly limited supply disruptions, thus taking some of the pressure off prices," he told. The Gulf of Mexico is the hub of US offshore energy production, accounting for 23 percent of crude oil output and 7.0 percent for natural gas. The Gulf coast's facilities also have more than 40 percent of total US petroleum refining capacity and 30 percent of natural gas processing plant capacity.