About 39% of crude oil production and 49% of natural gas output in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut on Wednesday as hurricane Francine barreled toward the Louisiana coast, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.

Meteorologists are tracking Hurricane Francine as it makes its way northeast through the western Gulf of Mexico. The storm is expected to make landfall as a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 96 mph somewhere along Louisiana's southwestern coastline on Wednesday.

Oil futures finished higher on Wednesday after ending the previous session at their lowest since December 2021, finding support from disruptions to energy output in the Gulf of Mexico, with Hurricane Francine due to make landfall in Louisiana later in the day.