Oil held at a five-month high as Hurricane Laura bore down on key refining facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast and an industry report added to optimism that American energy demand is recovering. Futures in New York were steady after jumping 1.7% on Tuesday. The storm is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday along the Texas-Louisiana coast as a Category 3 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. More than 84% of oil output in the Gulf of Mexico has now shut, while almost 3 million barrels a day of refining capacity has been closed. The American Petroleum Institute reported U.S. oil inventories fell by 4.52 million barrels last week and gasoline stockpiles shrunk by 6.39 million barrels, according to people familiar with the […]