SINGAPORE- Oil prices were little changed as investors eyed energy supply disruption, with the largest ports in Texas shut before Tropical Storm Beryl likely strengthens into a hurricane and makes landfall on Monday.
Brent crude futures inched up 11 cents, or 0.1 percent , to $86.65 a barrel after closing down 89 cents on Friday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $83.08 a barrel, down 8 cents, after settling down 72 cents in the previous session.
The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City closed on Sunday to prepare for Tropical Storm Beryl which could grow into a Category 2 hurricane after making landfall in the middle of the Texas coast between Galveston and Corpus Christi later on Monday.
Port closures could bring a temporary halt to crude and liquefied natural gas exports, oil shipments to refineries, and motor fuel deliveries from those plants.
“It looks like a storm surge, power outages are likely,” said IG analyst Tony Sycamore based in Sydney.
He added that there is also a good chance of US data showing another large weekly draw in US oil inventories amid peak driving season which will be supportive for oil prices.
WTI gained 2.1 percent last week after data from the Energy Information Administration showed stockpiles for crude and refined products fell in the week ending June 28.
