Oil edges up as storms take aim at Gulf of Mexico

* Storms head for Gulf of Mexico, force evacuations
* OPEC+ needs to offset large May-July oversupply -document
* Global coronavirus deaths exceed 800,000

By Jessica Jaganathan
SINGAPORE, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Crude oil prices nudged higher
on Monday as storms bore down on the Gulf of Mexico, shutting
more than half the region's oil production, although gains were
capped by ongoing concerns about demand from coronavirus
lockdowns.
Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura tore through the
Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, forcing energy companies
to pull workers from offshore platforms and shut down oil
production. Oil producers had shut 58% of the Gulf's offshore oil
production and 45% of natural gas production on Sunday. The
region accounts for 17% of total U.S. oil production and 5% of
U.S. natural gas output.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 added 8 cents, or 0.2%, to
$44.43 a barrel by 0040 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
crude CLc1 was up 7 cents, or 0.2%, to $42.41 a barrel.
Both benchmark contracts fell about 1% on Friday on economic
concerns and rising crude supply. "Crude prices rose higher as double trouble in the Atlantic
could lead to huge disruptions with oil operations in the Gulf
of Mexico," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in
New York.
"Oil's gains, however, are likely to be muted as virus
uncertainty continues to weigh on the crude demand outlook."
The global death toll from the coronavirus surpassed
800,000 on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally, with the
United States, Brazil and India leading the rise in fatalities.
Also supporting prices was a report by members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil
powers including Russia, that oil producing countries in the
OPEC+ group that pumped above supply targets from May to July
will need to slash output by over a million barrels per day for
two months to compensate.