The Arrival of Hurricane Ida Causes Shutdown in Oil Production, Yet Prices of Oil Remain the Same.

Hurricane Ida knocked nearly all of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico region. Oil prices, however, are little changed and natural gas prices are falling. Here’s what’s going on.

There’s no doubt Ida was bad for oil production. Nearly 95% of oil and gas production in the Gulf had been shut down because of the hurricane, according to S&P Global Platts.

Oil prices were down 0.03% at $68.72 a barrel at 8:28 a.m., while natural gas prices had fallen 1.4% to $4.328.

Part of the reason prices are declining is because of the rallies oil and gas prices had over the previous week. WTI crude, the U.S. benchmark, jumped 11% last week, while natural gas prices rose 13%. It’s a good reminder that markets anticipate events rather than simply respond to them.