MarketWatch/William Watts & Myra P. Saefong/08-28-17
Gasoline futures soared Monday as Tropical Storm Harvey continued to wreak havoc on Texas, knocking major Gulf Coast refineries out of action.
And while the storm is also expected to curtail offshore crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, crude futures are under pressure. That’s because the supply impact is more than offset by the hit to demand for crude by the refinery shutdowns.
…“West Texas oil futures fell as the market expects that refineries will demand less oil as they take weeks, maybe longer, to come back on line,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, in a note. “Brent crude on the other hand stayed stronger as the U.S. will demand product from Europe as well as some shut down of Libyan oil production over the weekend.”
