Commodity Daily News

Oil is Up on Storm Factor.

Oil prices rose more than $1 yesterday as Hurricane Gustav struck Haiti, raising concerns that the storm could slam into major Oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the price rise was tempered by a stronger dollar and a report from the Energy Department showing even slower fuel demand than many traders expected.
After dropping as low as $112.36 per barrel in overnight trading, Sweet Crude for October delivery ended the day up $1.16 to settle at $116.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
If Gustav continues along a path toward the Gulf, it could mean an uptick in gas station prices ahead of the Labor Day weekend in the United States. Also rising tensions with the West over the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia increases the risk of instability in Oil flows to Europe which relies heavily on Russian energy supplies.