About 12% of Oil Production in Gulf of Mexico Shut-in

People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
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About 12% of Oil Production in Gulf of Mexico Shut-in

People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)
People inspect their damaged house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP)

About 12% of current oil production and 6.04% of the current natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico is shut-in due to storm Helene, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement on Saturday.

Authorities across the southeastern United States faced the daunting task on Saturday of cleaning up from Hurricane Helene, one of the most powerful and perhaps costliest to hit the country.

Damage estimates across the storm's rampage range between $95 billion and $110 billion, potentially making this one of the most expensive storms in modern US history, said chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter of AccuWeather, a commercial forecasting company.
Downgraded late on Friday to a post-tropical cyclone, the remnants of Helene continued to produce heavy rains across several states, sparking massive flooding that threatened to cause dam failures that could inundate entire towns.



Oil Steady but on Track for Weekly Drop on Firmer Supply Outlook

FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo
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Oil Steady but on Track for Weekly Drop on Firmer Supply Outlook

FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A ship is moored near storage tanks at an oil refinery off the coast of Singapore October 17, 2008. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo

Oil prices held steady on Friday but remained on track for a weekly fall as investors weighed expectations for increased output from Libya and the broader OPEC+ group against fresh stimulus from top importer China.

Brent crude futures were up 8 cents, or 0.1%, at $71.68 per barrel as of 1130 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $67.78.

On a weekly basis, Brent was down almost 4%, while WTI was on track to lose nearly 6%, Reuters reported.

China's central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system, aiming to pull economic growth back towards this year's target of roughly 5%.

More fiscal measures are expected to be announced before Chinese holidays starting on Oct. 1 after a meeting of the Communist Party's top leaders showed an increased sense of urgency about mounting economic headwinds.

Meanwhile, rival factions staking claims for control of the Central Bank of Libya signed an agreement to end their dispute on Thursday. The dispute had seen crude exports fall to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month from more than 1 million last month.