If you check the US data, you will see that even the worst hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico have had no significant impact on the supply and demand balance for crude oil or refined products in the US. When a major storm hits, rigs are temporarily shut in, tankers slow down to avoid the storm, and refineries may shut down. But all of this happens at the same time consumer demand turns down dramatically in the affected regions. Even during Katrina, it was perfect that the refineries stayed down for awhile, because all of the cars, gasoline stations and roads were also inoperable!
All this is just to point out how rediculous it is for traders in commodities to point to storms as a reason for prices of crude oil to increase. - George
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