Crude falls and rises on Emily passing

Crude oil prices fell and then rose on Tuesday as Hurricane Emily lost and then regained strength as it plowed through the Gulf of Mexico toward the coast of Mexico.

While the hurricane is expected to miss most US oil and gas operations in the Gulf and was downgraded from a category 4 storm to category 1, forecasters cautioned that Emily could regain strength to category 2 before it reaches land again.

Brent crude for September delivery initially fell by 39 cents before gaining ground back to 37 cents higher than Monday’s close, to $57.36 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London at late afternoon.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude had gained 14 cents to $57.46 per barrel. With August delivery contracts expiring at the close of trade on Wednesday, more attention was paid to September delivery contracts of WTI, which lost 12 cents to $58.30 per barrel.