SINGAPORE — Oil prices slid on Wednesday but gasoline spiked to their highest since July 2015 as flooding and storm damage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey has shut one-fifth of U.S. oil refineries, crimping demand for crude but raising fears of a fuel shortage.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures <CLc1> were at $46.30 per barrel at 0359 GMT (11.59 p.m. ET), down 14 cents from their last close. Brent crude futures <LCOc1> were down 20cents, at $51.80 a barrel.
In the refined product market, price movements are more dramatic. U.S. gasoline prices <RBc1> were 3.2 percent higher at $1.8391 per gallon on Wednesday. Prices earlier climbed to the most since July 31, 2015, at $1.842.
Ultra-low sulfur diesel futures also gained 1.2 percent to $1.6854 a barrel and were earlier at their highest since Jan. 9 at $1.697.
"With fully 20 percent of the U.S. refining capacity offline, attention has been focused on potential shortages in refined products, with gasoline futures rocketing another four percent higher overnight," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA.