Oil prices settled lower on Friday as the rising possibility of a ceasefire deal in Gaza outweighed strong summer fuel demand and potential supply disruptions from Gulf of Mexico hurricanes. On the supply side, Hurricane Beryl, a Category 2 storm, made landfall in Mexico, after killing least 11 people in the Caribbean, tearing through buildings and power lines across several Caribbean islands. Production is now being shut in in the Gulf and platforms evacuated as a safety precaution. In Canada Suncor had to shut in a bunch of production due to wildfires.
Brent crude futures settled down US $89 cents per barrel, or 1.02% lower, to US $86.54 a barrel, after reaching their highest since April earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $83.16 a barrel, down 72 cents, or 0.9%. Could be an interesting day on Monday. We hope that everyone had a great 4th of July.