Oil prices fall as Tropical Storm Nate approaches

Oil prices fell on Friday as Tropical Storm Nate approached the US Gulf Coast, raising concerns that it could stymie demand from refiners.

West Texas Intermediate, the US crude marker, fell 3.2 per cent to $49.16 a barrel, taking its weekly losses to nearly 5 per cent and leaving it poised for its first weekly drop in five weeks.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 3 per cent to $55.30 a barrel, leaving it poised for its first weekly drop in six.

The National Hurricane Center said on Friday that Tropical Storm Nate was strengthening over the northwestern Caribbean. It is expected to become a hurricane by the time it reaches the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

The drop followed a rise on Thursday, with sentiment buoyed after Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed a pledge to shrink a global oil glut following a meeting between Saudi monarch King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

http://ift.tt/2wBysWZ