2020.08.2710:55:00UTC+00Oil Prices Edge Lower As Hurricane Laura Makes Landfall

Oil prices were subdued on Thursday as Hurricane Laura made landfall in southwestern Louisiana early today, forcing U.S. oil rigs and refineries to shut down.

Benchmark Brent crude slipped 7 cents, or 0.15 percent, to $46.09 a barrel, after having ended roughly flat on Wednesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 17 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $43.21 a barrel.

Laura made landfall just before 1 am as a category 4 storm, packing winds of 150 mph (240 kph) in the small town of Cameron, Louisiana, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

Analysts said the massive storm in the Gulf of Mexico has little impact on supply as oil and product inventories remain high.

Traders also shrugged off U.S. crude inventory declines and signs that gasoline demand in the world's biggest oil consumer were improving.

According to the data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, U.S. crude inventories dropped by 4.7 million barrels in the week ended August 21, falling for a fifth straight week. That was slightly higher than an expected drop of about 4.5 million barrels.

The EIA data also showed gasoline inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles were up by 1.4 million barrels.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a draw in crude oil inventories of 4.524 million barrels for the week ending August 21, while analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 3.694-million barrels.