Sharjah24- Reuters: Oil prices climbed on Wednesday, recouping some overnight losses from a stronger dollar and demand concerns, with a slow production restart in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and resumption of refining activities providing support.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 43 cents, or 0.6%, to $68.78 a barrel at 0643 GMT, after sliding 1.4% on Tuesday following the Labor Day holiday.
Brent crude futures gained 34 cents, or 0.5%, at $72.03 a barrel after falling 0.7% on Tuesday.
"The market is ... weighing up the impact of ongoing delays to the resumption of operations in the Gulf of Mexico," ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
Producers in the Gulf are still struggling to restart operations nine days after Hurricane Ida swept through the region with powerful winds and drenching rain.
About 79% of U.S. Gulf production remained offline on Tuesday, with 79 production platforms still unoccupied. About 17.5 million barrels of oil has been lost to the market so far.
The Gulf's offshore wells make up about 17% of U.S. output.
"Refinery operations appear to be making a quicker recovery," ING analysts said in a note.
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