Oil prices rose for a second session

Oil prices gained for a second session on Thursday, recouping earlier losses, as a drop in US Gulf of Mexico output due to Hurricane Ida damage supported the market.

At 0616 GMT, Brent crude was up 26 cents, or 0.36 percent, to $72.86 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 12 cents, or 0.17 percent, to $69.42 a barrel.

US manufacturing is still battling to recover from Hurricane Ida, according to an ANZ note. Ida has cut off more supplies after nine days than any prior hurricane due to substantial infrastructure damage and power outages.

On Tuesday, around 77 percent of US Gulf production, or over 1.4 million barrels per day, remained down (bpd). So far, the market has lost approximately 17.5 million barrels of oil. Offshore wells in the Gulf account for around 17% of US output.

American Petroleum Institute (API) prediction on an Oil output

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States crude oil output predict to fall by 200,000 barrels per day in 2021 to 11.08 million bpd. Hurricane Ida will compel a more significant reduction than its prior prediction of 160,000 bpd.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) statistics revealed that oil drawdown for the week ending September 3 was less than forecast in a Reuters poll. Meantime, gasoline and distillate drawdowns were more.

According to API statistics, gasoline stocks in the United States declined by 6.4 million barrels in the week ending September 3. Meanwhile, crude inventories fell by 2.9 million barrels.

According to API data, distillate stocks in the United States declined by 3.7 million barrels in the same week. According to an oil engineer at each port, protesters in Libya disrupted oil shipments at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf on Wednesday. However, other engineers indicated that production at fields that supply the terminals was unaffected.

Gold Down

Gold was down in Asia on Thursday morning, holding near two-week lows. A surging dollar Index Futures exacerbated the yellow metal’s losses. Investors also anticipate the European Central Bank’s (ECB) upcoming policy announcement.

Gold futures were down 0.21 percent to $1,789.75 at 12:18 a.m. ET (4:18 a.m. GMT) after hitting $1,781.30, its lowest level since August 26, the previous session. The dollar, which normally moves in the opposite direction of gold, rose slightly on Thursday.

The ECB will issue its policy decision later in the day. It primarily expects to begin asset cutting while maintaining support in the years to come. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada held its interest rate at 0.25 percent in its policy meeting on Wednesday.

Following the release of a poor US jobs report the previous week, investors are increasingly focused on whether the US Federal Reserve would begin asset tapering within the year. The country’s ever-increasing number of COVID-19 daily cases and deaths likewise caused concern. In the Asia Pacific, earlier in the day, Chinese inflation data showed that the consumer price index rose 0.1 percent month on month and 0.8 percent year on year in August. The producer price index increased by 9.5 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) forecasted that the global platinum market would be in surplus this year as mine supply increases and investment demand falls.