Oil prices up on named tropical storm

Crude oil prices were higher in New York on Tuesday as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean was upgraded to a tropical storm and given the name Dean as it heads toward the Caribbean.

Dean is expected to become a hurricane by the end of the week and analysts worry that it could enter the Gulf of Mexico and interrupt oil supply.

In addition, a separate tropical depression could form today in the Gulf of Mexico in an area north of the Yucatan Peninsula.

September contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 78 cents to $72.40 per barrel by the close of floor trade.

Nymex September gasoline was up 4 cents to $1.97 per gallon, while September heating oil gained 2 cents to $1.98 per gallon and October natural gas jumped 11 cents to $7.13 per million British thermal units.

Ahead of Wednesday’s US inventories data for the week ending August 10, most analysts expect that crude oil and gasoline stockpiles both will have declined but that distillates inventories will be higher.