Oil rises to near six-week high

NEW YORK. Oil prices rose to near six-week highs yesterday as US output remains slow to return two weeks after Hurricane Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast and worries another storm could affect output in Texas this week.

Those gains came even though the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries trimmed its world oil demand forecast for the last quarter of 2021 due to the Delta coronavirus variant. Opec said a further recovery would be delayed until next year when consumption will exceed pre-pandemic rates.

Brent futures rose 53 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $73.45 a barrel by 11:30am. EDT (1530 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 71 cents, or 1.0 per cent, to $70.43.