Crude Oil Rises as Mexico Shuts Offshore Output for Hurricane

Crude oil rose a second day as Mexico’s state-owned oil company shut offshore fields as Hurricane Emily approached the country’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Petroleos Mexicanos yesterday halted output in the Campeche Sound, where three-quarters of the country’s 3.4 million barrels a day of oil is pumped. Emily is the second hurricane since the June start of the season. Mexico was the second-largest oil supplier to the U.S. after Canada last year and accounted for about 16 percent of the nation’s imports, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

“The market is very worried about these weather-related disruptions,” David Thurtell, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said before the start of trading. “We’ve had some very strong Category 4 hurricanes so early in the season. It means the chances are we’re going to get a few more and chances are one of them will make some significant damage.”
Bloomberg