Flooding In U.S. Hubs Causes Oil To Rise – 28 May, 2019

Midwest floods caused massive delays from the main U.S. crude distribution storage hub, effectively causing prices to gain just under 1%. Due to the delays out of Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 51 cents and 0.9% from its close before the holiday weekend to $59.14. Arkansas and Oklahoma have seen have seen a steadily wet spring, causing flooding with more rainfall expected on the way. International benchmark Brent Crude futures were flat at $70.11 after fluctuating below and above the mark, caused by anticipated fears of slow economic growth, as well as cuts made by OPEC and a possible six month extension to the production curb. U.S.-China trade tensions are a major concern for investors and major factor in their thoughts on a slowing economy. U.S. crude inventories rose to 476.8 million last week, with WTI sliding 6.4% to its steepest weekly decline since December. At the same time, Brent futures dropped 4.5%.