This week the oil market was under the influence of hurricane Harvey, which stopped a significant part of oil refineries in the United States. Moreover, 11 ports have been closed, so they could not accept oil tankers for unloading. The Ministry of Energy in the USA had to spend 500 000 barrels of oil from the strategic oil reserves to prevent a deficit. Gasoline futures in the US increased in price, reaching two-year highs. As for oil prices, they didn't increase and continue in the frames of the flat trend with a wide range formed in August 2016.
Overall, the market has a negative perception of the situation that formed due to the hurricane, but the damage caused to the oil and petrochemical industry has not been determined yet. Market volatility remains low. Some support for oil prices was brought by a report from OPEC: the volumes of oil extraction in August fell by 170,000 barrels per day.
In this situation the most optimal option would be the deal to BUY in the short term. The aftermath of the hurricane at the moment seems underrated. There is a perspective for a temporary decrease of oil reserves in the US, together with less oil refining.
