Brent crude prices climb as storm threatens

• Brent Crude futures increased to $101.39 a barrel.
• The oil market reacted to supply constraints driven by an incoming United States Gulf storm.
• The market expects ongoing supply disruptions to elevate crude premiums amid regional Middle East conflicts.

Brent Crude futures rose to $101.39 a barrel as the market weighed US Gulf storm threats.

The recent price increase followed a 2.09 million barrel drop in United States crude inventories last week.

"Attacks and refinery outages are likely to keep the cracks elevated and scarcity will transmit to crude," said X Analysts Chief Oil Analyst Mukesh Sahdev.

The offshore Gulf areas in the storm's path produce 15% of the crude oil for the country.

Refineries in the Gulf states account for about 50% of the 18.2 million barrels per day national capacity.

Approximately 12 million barrels per day of crude oil recently left the Middle East on shipping tankers.