Oil Futures Fall 1.2 Percent as Hurricane Isaac Lands

Reuters reported that Hurricane Isaac landed late Tuesday and has caused flooding in Southern Louisiana, though as yet has not damaged refineries or offshore oil and gas platforms. 93 percent of offshore Gulf oil is still out of commission.

As quoted in the market news:

The 247,000-barrel-per-day Phillips 66 Alliance refinery, which is located in [Louisiana’s coastal Plaquemines Parish] but on the opposite side of the Mississippi River from flooding, reported a power outage. Phillips said it wasn’t able to confirm whether the storm had any other impact on the plant, which remained shut down.

Williams Cos., which operates pipelines in the Gulf region, said that bad weather was still preventing any restaffing or restarting of oil and gas platforms that were evacuated offshore as Isaac approached.

U.S. oil futures fell 1.2 percent to $95.20 a barrel by 11:49 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. U.S. gasoline futures were down 0.8 percent as many traders bet that Isaac would not damage refineries.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.