WTI bulls rally into the close for strong start to week

• Oil marches higher on concerns in the Gulf and production hampered by storms. 
• OPEC cut its world oil demand forecast for the last quarter of 2021.

WTI is over 1.15% higher by the cling bell on Wall Street. The price of oil moved from a low of $69.54 to a high of $70.94 so far. 

US output remains slow to return following Hurricane Ida which took out the Gulf Coast operations. This is occurring just as another storm is on the way which could affect output in Texas later this week.

''Further disruption from bad weather could be around the corner, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center projecting Tropical Storm Nicholas will scrape along the South Texas coast on Monday and make landfall near Corpus Christi later tonight,'' Reuters has reported.

The news agency has also reported that Royal Dutch Shell has begun evacuating staff from a US Gulf of Mexico oil platform and other firms began preparing for hurricane-force winds.

OPEC under spotlight

Additionally, the  Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has cut its world oil demand forecast for the last quarter of 2021 due to the Delta coronavirus variant.

''Concerns are also brewing that OPEC+ may not manage to raise production, despite the group's plan to continue raising its output, as Russia's total production is struggling to keep up with its quota,'' analysts at TD Securities said.

''On the horizon, more modest demand growth will see the market find balance, leading to concerns for energy traders as consensus expectations should see the market shift out of a deficit and into balance in coming months, but the upside for energy markets resides in supply risks.''