On Wednesday morning, oil quotes continued their growth after rising the day before, caused by concern about the approach of Hurricane Idalia to the coast of Florida. The current price of Brent oil is $85.48 per barrel. At the moment, the price rose to the level of $85.74 per barrel. North American WTI oil shows similar dynamics: quotes rose at the moment to the level of $81.88. Tropical storm Idalia intensified to hurricane level the day before, according to information from the National Hurricane Warning Service (NRC). It is predicted that the hurricane could reach the third category on the Saffir-Simpson scale and hit the Florida coast on Wednesday, accompanied by intense downpours and flood threats. A state of emergency was imposed in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and residents of 28 Florida counties were evacuated. The market dynamics was also influenced by data on energy stocks in the United States. Statistics from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that last week oil reserves in the United States decreased by 11.5 million barrels. Official data from the US Department of Energy will be published later on Wednesday. Analysts predict that these data will show a reduction in oil reserves by 5.2 million barrels, gasoline – by 600 thousand barrels, and distillates – by 1.4 million barrels.
