Oil posts highest price settlement since late July; natural-gas futures up nearly 4%
Oil futures on Wednesday posted their highest settlement since late July after the Energy Information Administration reported a 6.4 million-barrel weekly drop in U.S. crude supplies. "Oil's rally is nowhere near over as both demand and supply drivers are still mostly bullish: further delays in making progress with the Iran nuclear deal, a cold winter, and further production disruptions from a very active hurricane season," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery rose $2.15, or about 3.1%, to settle at $72.61 a barrel, the highest front-month finish since July 30, according to FactSet data. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported Wednesday that an estimated 29.5% of oil production and 39.4% of natural-gas production in the Gulf remains shut in following Hurricane Ida, which made landfall on the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Natural-gas futures also rallied, to mark another finish at the highest since February 2014. October natural gas rose 20 cents, or 3.8%, to settle at $5.46 per million British thermal units.
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