SINGAPORE – Oil prices in Asia rose Tuesday on concerns hurricane Gustav may disrupt oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s hard to predict where Gustav will strike,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
“But the market is reacting to it and edging up some.”
Light, sweet crude for October delivery was up 58 cents at $115.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by mid-afternoon in Singapore. The contract rose 52 cents overnight to settle at $115.11 a barrel.
Gustav became a hurricane Tuesday as it approached Haiti’s southern coast, and is also on track to hit Cuba.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the hurricane’s maximum sustained winds were near 80 mph (130 kph).
Haitians were told to prepare for evacuation as the storm formed Monday in the Caribbean. Haiti upgraded storm warnings to hurricane warnings along much of its coast as Gustav closed in from the south. – AP