Oil Rises as Canadian Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Fort McMurray

Oil rose toward $46 a barrel on Wednesday as reduced production in Canada’s oil sands region due to a wildfire pushed aside concerns about excess global supplies and expectations of rising U.S. crude inventories.

The Canadian province of Alberta was evacuating the entire population of Fort McMurray where a wildfire took hold in the heart of the country’s oil sands region, prompting some companies to cut output.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 92 cents at $45.89 at 1401 GMT (9:01 a.m. ET). It reached a 2016 high of $48.50 on Friday, but settled lower on that day and fell again on Monday and Tuesday. U.S. crude CLc1 was up $1.17 at $44.82.

“Oil prices could receive support from the wildfires in the Canadian oil province of Alberta,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.

Brent crude has fallen more than 5 percent from Friday’s high in response to rising output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries , signs of economic slowdown in the United States and Asia, and a stronger dollar.

via Reuters

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