‘ren2020 prices jurp as Hurricane Florence approactos US | Financial Times oil Oil prices jump as Hurricane Florence approaches US Spike in fuel purchases predicted as Im people ordered to evacuate coastal areas Anji Raval in London, Peter Wells in New York and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington SEPTEMBER 12 2018 Oil prices rose as Hurricane Florence threatened America’s east coast gasoline markets and US government data showed domestic crude production in 2019 is expected to grow slower than previously estimated, ‘The hurricane, which is expected to strengthen and make landfall on Friday, is the most powerful storm to threaten the Carolinas in almost three decades, the US hurricane centre said, with winds of 130 miles an hour and potential “life-threatening inundation” from rising water. “A storm like this typically causes an increase in fuel purchases,” said Jeanette Casselano, a spokesperson at the motor industry group AAA. “Motorists can expect spikes in pump prices to be brief, but possibly dramatic.” In early trading on Wednesday the price of US marker West Texas Intermediate rose to $69.94 while Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed to $79.46. Commodities traders having been eyeing other prices as weather forecasts have come in over recent days. Both Carolinas are known for cotton production, and are estimated to make up a combined 7 per cent of US upland production this year, according to US Department of Agriculture forecasts. North Carolina is also the second-biggest pork-producing state in the US. Front-month cotton prices and lean hog prices both fell modestly on Tuesday after a spike on Monday. ‘The National Hurricane Center on Tuesday morning said the maximum sustained wind speed of Florence was 130 miles per hour, 1omph slower than the day before. But it said the category 4 storm was expected to strengthen later in the day, adding that it was forecast to be an “extremely dangerous major hurricane through landfall”. Armillion people across three US states have been ordered to evacuate coastal homes. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed declarations of emergency for both North Carolina and South Carolina, releasing federal funding for the states. ‘np: comiconteits51682-b6ea-oB-boc3-ce7deesle 18zoo Ot prices up as Huricane Forence approaches US| Fart Times Mr Trump said the federal government was prepared to deal with the hurricane. “We are totally prepared. We are ready as anybody has ever been,” the US president told reporters. “This is going to be a storm that is going to be a very large one, far larger than we have seen in perhaps decades.” Mr Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the main government body for dealing with natural disasters, had done a “fantastic job” preparing for Hurricane Florence. In comments that were widely criticised, Mr Trump also stated that the US response to the devastating Hurricane Maria that claimed several thousand lives in Puerto Rico last year had been an “incredible unsung success”. The US president said he expected lawmakers to provide money to deal with the fallout from Hurricane Florence, saying lawmakers in “Congress will be generous because we have no choice”. Brock Long, the head of Fema, said the storm would bring devastation to central Virginia in addition to South and North Carolina. “The biggest hazard that we are worried about is storm surge, that's the primary driver of the evacuations that are under way,” he said. Separately, the US crude output to rise by 840,000 barrels a day to 1.5m b/d next year. This is lower snergy Information Administration said it forecasts domestic than the just over 1m b/d rise to 11.7m b/d it had initially expected. The US shale boom has paved the way for production to reach more than 10m b/d but Grilling in the Permian Basin in the south-western US, a key oil hub, has started to slow due to limited pipeline capacity for evacuating the oil. Oil market watchers have also been keeping an eye on impending US sanctions on Iran's energy sector, which is expected to hit the country’s crude exports and could see the broader market facing a crunch. Saudi Arabia and its peers inside and outside of the Opec cartel are raising production more slowly than expected, also raising questions about av: lable crude supply when the sanctions officially come into effect in November. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020, ll rights reserved. ‘nips comeonter7os te82-béua- Nob boc costa 28‘ren2020 prices jurp as Hurricane Florence approactos US | Financial Times ‘nips comeonter7os te82-béua- Nob boc costa 38