The first hurricane of the season in the Atlantic, "Isaias," is approaching the U.S. Gulf Coast, forcing the shutdown of over a quarter of the region's offshore oil production. As of Wednesday noon, approximately 512,000 barrels per day of oil production, or 25% of the region's total output, had been shut down. Meanwhile, continued instability in the Middle East collectively pushed international oil prices up by over 5% at one point on Thursday. Robert Yawger, Director of Energy Futures at Mizuho Securities, warned that if U.S. refining capacity is forced out of the market, the consequences "would be catastrophic." WTI crude oil rose by as much as 5.6% on Thursday before Donald Trump stated that he would not attack Iran before the midterm elections, leading to a partial pullback in gains.