Investing.com - Crude oil prices fell in Asia on Friday, shrugging off mostly solid manufacturing PMI figures with the market still assessing when U.S. Gulf Coast refiners might resume operations in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude October contract fell 0.55% to $46.97 a barrel. Elsewhere, Brent oil for October delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London dipped 0.23% to $52.74 a barrel.
In China, the Caixin manufacturing PMI for August jumped to 51.6, compared with a reading of 50.9 seen for the world's second largest crude oil importer. Elsewhere in the region, The AIG manufacturing index from Australia for August soared to 59.8, compared with the July reading at 56.0 and the Japan manufacturing PMI for August came in at 52.2, a dip below 52.8 expected.
Overnight, oil prices bounced off a five-week low on Thursday, while gasoline futures remained sharply higher, as markets continued to weigh the impact of Tropical Storm Harvey on supply and demand.
Oil prices have been under pressure this week as Tropical Storm Harvey battered the U.S. Gulf Coast, ripping through Texas and Louisiana at the heart of the U.S. petroleum industry.
Texas is home to 5.6 million barrels of refining capacity per day, and Louisiana has 3.3 million barrels. Over 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity were estimated to be offline as a result of the storm.
U.S. commercial crude oil stocks fell by 5.4 million barrels last week, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, marking the ninth straight weekly decline. However, the data was collected before Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast.