Following the contract rollover, the Brent price gained by a good $1 overnight and this morning is trading at above $64 per barrel. The now expired July contract found itself under severe pressure yesterday and ultimately closed trading at $62.5 per barrel.
WTI is trading at more than $60 per barrel again, having hit a low of $58.7 per barrel yesterday. Unlike with Brent, there has been no WTI contract rollover to explain the price rise. In fact, the US National Hurricane Center has warned that the Gulf Coast in Texas could be hit by a tropical storm.
Nearly half of all US refinery capacities are located on the US Gulf Coast.
"Any reduction in crude oil processing as a result of the tropical storm should really lead to lower oil prices because it means that crude oil stocks increase. On the other hand, it would drive up the prices of oil products as the lower production would result in destocking", says Commerzbank.
