Oil prices recoup as US Gulf Coast restarts
Oil prices regained some losses caused by Hurricane Harvey along with US Gulf Coast having restarted its operations. Hurricane Harvey shut at least 4.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity. The US gasoline prices hit a two-year high above USD 2 a gallon on Thursday, but on Friday, as two refineries began to restart, the “crack spread” — the difference between crude oil and gasoline prices - fell nearly 11%. Gasoline for September delivery settled up 25.52 cents, or 13.5%, at USD 2.1399 per gallon on the last day of trading in the contract. US gasoline futures for October delivery were down 2% at USD 1.74 per gallon at 2:25 pm ET. The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 8 cents at USD 47.15 per barrel. The contract rebounded 2.8% on Thursday but is still heading for a weekly decline of 1.9%. The new Brent contract for November delivery was down 26 cents at USD 52.60 barrel. The contract for October, which expired on Thursday, closed up USD 1.52 at USD 52.38. Cl