U.S. oil futures settle back above $80 a barrel as Hurricane Ian disrupts Gulf output

Oil futures rallied on Wednesday, with U.S. prices settling above $80 a barrel for the first time in nearly a week as Hurricane Ian led to a slowdown in production in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported Wednesday that in response to the storm, 9.12% of oil production and 5.95% of natural-gas output in the Gulf has been shut in. That was, however, lower than shut ins of 11% of Gulf oil output and 8.56% of natural-gas output on Tuesday. November WTI crude rose $3.65, or nearly 4.7%, to settle at $82.15 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. October natural gas , which expired at the end of the session, rose 3.3% to settle at $6.868 per million British thermal units.

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