Global oil prices slipped on Wednesday as crude demand remained subdued on the back of refinery closures following Hurricane Harvey which hit the US Gulf coast 10 days ago.
Market focus was also being drawn to Hurricane Irma, a record Category 5 storm, which is barrelling towards important shipping lanes in the Caribbean.
Although many refineries and pipelines which were knocked out by the storm are now in the process of restarting, analysts say it will take some time before the US petroleum industry is back to full crude processing capacity.
As of Tuesday, about 3.8 million barrels of daily refining capacity, or about 20 per cent, was shut, though a number of the refineries in that group were in the process of restarting.
Several others, including Marathon’s Galveston Bay and Citgo’s Corpus Christi refineries, were running at reduced rates, according to company reports and Reuters estimates.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures Clc1 were at $48.57 barrel at 0333 GMT, 9 cents, or 0.2 per cent, below their last settlement.
In international oil markets, Brent crude futures LCOc1 dipped 19 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $53.19 a barrel, according to Reuters.