Storm threat to Gulf scares oil higher

Possible hurricane, new tropical depression raise supply disruption concerns, pushing up price of crude.

SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices rose by a dollar a barrel Thursday, extending overnight gains as a tropical depression near Mexico raised concerns about possible disruptions to oil and gas production there.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose 78 cents to $81.08 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.


A tropical depression put parts of Mexico’s Gulf Coast under a storm watch Thursday, while Tropical Storm Karen strengthened to near hurricane status in the open Atlantic Ocean.

The 13th depression of the season could strengthen into a named storm over the next day in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, according to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

AP