LONDON, Aug 29: Oil prices rebounded on Friday as Tropical Storm Gustav risked becoming a hurricane once more, threatening key US energy production and refinery facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, traders said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, jumped $1.82 to $117.41 per barrel, after bouncing above $120 in intra-day trade on Thursday.

London’s Brent North Sea crude for October gained $1.48 to $115.65 on Friday.

Deadly Tropical Storm Gustav thrashed Jamaica on Friday and was on track to crash into Cuba as a hurricane after leaving up to 78 people dead in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.

“Tropical Storm Gustav was back in focus, despite reassurances from the International Energy Agency and the US Department for Energy that they were ready to tap into emergency oil reserves in case the storm causes significant supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico,” Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said.

“The focus is likely to remain on Tropical Storm Gustav and potential supply disruptions during the weekend and earlier next week,” he added.

British oil group BP, Anglo-Dutch giant Shell and US rival ConocoPhillips had on Thursday evacuated workers from their installations in the Gulf of Mexico as the deadly storm loomed.

—AFP