Oil prices traded down after a large US refinery shut down. BP on Thursday said it was in the process of shutting down its 435,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery after a power outage. However tensions in the Middle East have continued to provide support for oil prices. Attacks by Yemen-based Houthi forces on vessels in the Red Sea have persisted, driving up costs and disrupting global oil trading. The Houthi group also said it would keep up attacks on U.S. and British warships in what it called acts of self-defense. Earlier, two OPEC+ sources said the group would decide in March whether or not to extend voluntary oil production cuts in place for the first quarter, after a ministerial panel meeting made no changes to the group’s output policy. WTI traded down $2.03 or -2.7% to close at $73.82. Brent traded down $1.85 or -2.5% to close at $78.70.