Crude futures rose slightly by midday Friday, underpinned by supply concerns related to Hurricane Beryl, and as lackluster U.S. jobs data increased expectations of an interest-rate cut later this year.
At 12:15 p.m. ET, August Nnymex West Texas Intermediate crude futures were about 20cts higher at $84.05/bbl while September WTI was down 5cts at $82.95/bbl. London-based ICE Brent for September delivery edged up 5cts at $87.5/bbl and October Brent increased by the same amount to $86.65/bbl.
Refined product futures were mixed. August Nymex RBOB climbed 1.05cts to $2.612/gal and September RBOB gained 0.9ct to $2.571/gal. However, August Nymex ULSD eased 0.2ct to $2.632/gal and September ULSD was down 0.3ct at $2.645/gal.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Friday morning there is now a higher chance that Beryl will bring strong winds, storm surge and flooding to the lower and middle Texas coast late Sunday and Monday.
NHC is currently projecting Beryl to make landfall in South Texas north of the U.S.-Mexico border early Monday, with a potential track stretching between Corpus Christi and northeastern Mexico.
Corpus Christi is the home of three large oil refineries, namely the 350,000 b/d Flint Hills, 175,500 b/d Citgo and 370,000 b/d Valero refineries.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department on Friday said the U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% in June while the average wage increase was the smallest since 2021. Slower economic growth should increase chances the U.S. Federal Reserve lowers interest rates to boost growth.
Lower interest rates should also weaken the U.S. dollar, which would increase the appeal of dollar-denominated crude futures for buyers using foreign currencies.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-05-24 1307ET
