WTI oil prices has risen slightly as traders assessed the impact of superstorm Sandy on crude demand in the United States.
In the US, there was only electronic trading as markets were shut down ahead of the massive storm hitting the US east coast.
New York’s benchmark oil futures contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in December, gained 14 cents to $US85.58 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for December fell 56 US cents to $108.88 a barrel in London.
“With so much uncertainty around, the markets did not need another dangerous curveball,” said PVM brokers analyst David Hufton.
“Adding to the uncertainties of the US presidential election, the eurozone dance and the Chinese leadership transition arrives the largest storm to make landfall in US history,” he said.
“The supply side impact of refinery shutdowns is bullish for (energy) products but has to be set against the demand side impact of a shutdown transportation system – air, road, rail and sea.”
Americans on Tuesday awoke to scenes of devastation after Sandy battered the US east coast, flooding parts of New York City, paralysing transport and leaving millions without electricity.
The storm weakened as it moved further inland but forecasters still warned of gale-force winds and flooding along the densely-populated coast, where a massive fire broke out in New York City and a levee broke in New Jersey.
Thiry-five people were reported killed in the United States as the storm roared ashore late on Monday, pounding several major cities with heavy rain and hurricane-force winds that toppled trees and ripped down power lines.
President Barack Obama declared a “major disaster” had hit the states of New York and New Jersey, an order that cleared the way for federal grants and loans to help storm victims acquire temporary housing and repair damage.
Refineries closed and major arteries such New York’s Holland Tunnel were shut to traffic. The operator of two major New Jersey nuclear plants said they might have to be closed, threatening half the state’s power supply.
The New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the futures markets in Chicago were closed for Monday and Tuesday, along with federal government offices and the entire Amtrak rail network on the eastern seaboard.
Sandy will end up causing about $US20 billion ($A19.45 billion) in property damages and $US10 billion to $US30 billion more in lost business, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.
In the long run, the devastation the storm inflicted on New York City and other parts of the Northeast will barely nick the US economy. That’s the view of economists who say a slightly slower economy in coming weeks will likely be matched by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to growth over time.
The short-term blow to the economy, though, could subtract about 0.6 percentage point from US economic growth in the October-December quarter, IHS says. Retailers, airlines and home construction firms will likely lose some business.
