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Fera of US hupricane wafts oil prices

LONDON: World oil prices ticked higher again on Thursday with the help of a hurricane off the U.S. Gulf coast. But the price gains were modest and dealers said markets might go into reverse once Hurricane Erin had run its course.

London September futures for international benchmark North Sea Brent by mid-afternoon had added seven cents a barrel to $16.28.

As Erin headed for U.S. Gulf oilfields several companies shut small amounts of crude production as a safety precaution.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, stopped loading crude tankers, cutting by half flows along the 1.2 million barrel per day Capline into the U.S. Midwest.

"No doubt the hurricane has helped the market but everybody knows its going to end sooner or later and then we're going to see prices come off again," said a futures broker in London.

"Unless there's more evidence of supply disruptions people are going to be reluctant to take on more (futures positions)," she added.

Also tempering the hurricane's impact on crude oil prices was the closure of the large Chevron Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi as a safety measure, reducing demand for crude in the area.

Crude prices in dollars per barrel at 1445 GMT:-Reuter