OIL: WTI Continues Climb as Tropical Storm Approaches

WTI is climbing to a new intraday high and is showing a rebound from the near-15-month lows seen last week, boosted by concerns that Tropical Storm Francine could knock out production in the USGC.

• WTI OCT 24 up 1.8% at 68.87$/bbl
• The intraday high so far today was $68.94/b at 12:55 ET (17:55 BST)
• RES 1: $73.09 - 20-day EMA
• WTI OCT 24-NOV 24 up 0.12$/bbl at 0.81$/bbl
• WTI NOV 24-DEC 24 up 0.13$/bbl at 0.59$/bbl
• Tropical Storm Francine’s path threatens to impact around 1.3m b/d of oil output, according to Bloomberg calculations.
• Exxon, Chevron, and Shell have closed assets and evacuated staff from offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, while the coast guard has suspended inbound boardings for the Ports of Houston, Galveston, and Freeport.
• The disruption adds to continued shuttered output in Libya due to a political standoff between its competing governments over control of the country’s Central Bank.