Oil Prices Rise on US Storm

Oil prices rose on in early Asian trade on Thursday on tensions in the Middle East and on spike in fuel demand as a major storm barreled into Florida. Brent crude futures rose 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.95 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures was up 35 cents, also 0.5%, at $73.59 a barrel. The world's largest oil producer and consumer has been hit by a second major storm, Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Florida's west coast, spawning tornadoes and threatening surges of seawater. US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data on Wednesday showed crude inventories jumped by 5.8 million barrels to 422.7 million barrels last week. Source: Qatar News Agency