Oil Price Ticks Up as Hurricane Delta Rages Toward Gulf Coast

Hurricane Delta is expected to slam coastal Louisiana later this week. Reportedly, the hurricane, likely to unleash damaging wind and floods, has the attention of energy companies which are busy chalking out ways to counter it.

Estimated Impact of Hurricane Delta

Hurricane Delta is rapidly gaining strength and is now a category 4 storm. The hurricane’s wind speed has reached 145 miles per hour (mph) – per the National Hurricane Center. Thus, in the Atlantic basin, the storm is the second strongest in the year, lagging Hurricane Laura.

The National Hurricane Center expects the hurricane to move over the Gulf coast through Oct 8. Thus, there remains a significant threat to oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and also to U.S. refineries, since the Gulf coast area is home to about half of the U.S. refining capacity.

How Have Energy Players Responded?

As expected, oil and gas producers in the offshore Gulf of Mexico have started evacuating crew. From four of its offshore platforms, namely, Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog and Na Kik, British energy giant BP plc BP has started evacuating non-essential crew as a measure to secure offshore facilities.

Equinor ASA EQNR, one of the premier integrated energy companies in the world with operations spreading across 30 countries, is now shutting its Titan platform. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Another leading integrated major, Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A, has decided to stop production at all nine of its Gulf coast facilities. Chevron Corporation CVX, an integrated energy major, is also preparing to shut Gulf coast platforms and evacuate crew.

Oil Price Gain Short-Lived

With hurricane Delta expected to disrupt a significant portion of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production and refinery shutdown, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is again trading above $40 per barrel mark, gaining more than 8% since Oct 4. The uptick in oil price is expected to be short-lived, providing no major support to upstream energy firms.

Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation

Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity. Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices. In the process, it’s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate $12.3 trillion in activity.

A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech. Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft in the 1990s. Zacks’ just-released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch. The report is only available for a limited time.

See 8 breakthrough stocks now>>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Equinor ASA (EQNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.