WTI Crude 28 cents, or 0.66%, to settle at $42.62 per barrel. International benchmark Brent Crude advanced 78 cents, or 1.76%, to $45.13.

As of Sunday, about 57.6% of offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut-in, or roughly 1.07 million barrels per day, according to the U.S. government. The primary driving force for oil prices continues to be the unprecedented fall-off in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as worldwide producers’ response to the plunge in prices. “Today is more of an opportunity to see that even such a sudden event is weak to really put aside the concerns that Covid-19 has brought upon market participants,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, Rystad Energy’s head of oil markets. “Yes, a dip in oil production provides a breath to traders, who have been seeing global output rising over the last weeks, amid a demand recovery lag. But what will really make a difference is news from the recovery front,” he added.

Henry Hub natural gas futures also got a boost on Monday with the contract for September delivery advancing 3.64% to $2.53 per million British thermal units. About 44.6% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico is currently offline, which has helped fuel the jump in prices. But Brian Lovern, chief meteorologist at Bespoke Weather Services, noted that the boost could be short-lived. “The other side of the storm is that it looks like it will be heading toward Sabine Pass and/or Cameron, [Louisiana], which means it will have a detrimental impact on LNG volumes as well in the coming days, and wherever the storm makes landfall, there will be demand destruction via rain and power outages, and this will be very significant if the storm tracks far enough westward to impact the Houston/Galveston region,” he said.