Oil prices break $80 per barrel mark as Hurricane Florence helps create the perfect storm
Oil prices have risen above $80 per barrel for the first time since July as US crude inventories dropping, impending sanctions against Iran, and Hurricane Florence created a perfect storm.
The price of Brent Crude oil rose to $80 per barrel, its highest since the middle of July and close to a three-year high.
The Energy Information Administration said US crude oil inventories had dropped by 5.3m barrels last week, contributing to the rise this afternoon.
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The threat of sanctions looming over the Iranian oil sector and an impending hurricane expected to hit the US east coast as early as tomorrow also drove the price up.
More than a million people, as well as businesses, have already begun evacuating following a national weather warning.
Hurricane Florence, expected to be the most powerful storm to hit North and South Carolina in almost 30 years, is not expected to affect production but the evacuation of more than a million residents could lead to a short-term spike in demand.
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The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its forecast for oil demand growth in 2019 in its monthly report and said that challenges in emerging countries could hinder global economic growth.