Light oil price rises as Hurricane Ida threatens oil fields

US Light oil prices rose above $78 a barrel on early trading Monday, recouping some of the previous session’s near 3 percent losses, amid concerns that a powerful hurricane charging toward the Gulf of Mexico would threaten oil and gas supplies.

NYMEX crude oil futures for December delivery rose 57 cents to $78 a barrel by 2331 GMT. The contract settled down $2.19 at $77.43 a barrel on Friday, after data showed the US jobless rate jumped more than expected to a 26-1/2-year high in October.

Hurricane Ida roared toward the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, where important oil fields are located, after killing 91 people and leaving at least another 60 missing in floods and mudslides in El Salvador.

Fast-moving, strengthening Hurricane Ida led oil companies to begin evacuating workers on Sunday from the Gulf of Mexico and prompted the nation’s only offshore oil port to stop taking foreign crude from tankers.

Tags:  Hurricane Ida, light oil prices, oil fields