Benchmark oil prices eased on 29 August, as Hurricane Isaac passed onshore into Louisiana without any major damage to Gulf of Mexico production platforms or Gulf Coast refineries. At the same time the US Energy Information Administration reported on unexpected stockbuild in weekly petroleum data, which showed that US crude inventories increased by 3.8mn barrels in the previous week. WTI crude declined by $0.84/B on the day to settle at $95.49/B, while Brent crude ended $0.04/B lower at $112.54/B.