Oil prices rise as storm threatens production in Gulf of Mexico

Flash floods strike a New Orleans parking lot.
(Image credit: SETH HERALD/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. oil futures jumped by 4.5 percent to $60.43 a barrel on Wednesday as potential Tropical Storm Barry, which is expected to form by Thursday, threatened to disrupt crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. The close marked a seven-week high, and the first time futures have gone above $60 since May 22, CNN reports.

Personnel have been evacuated from 15 production platforms and four rigs in the Gulf, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Three other rigs have been moved. Oil prices also got a lift from a report by the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration that crude oil inventories declined last week.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.