Oil climbed Oct. 13 as dwindling U.S. crude stockpiles and near-record Chinese imports signaled the worldwide glut is eroding.

Oil rose as Irma weakened to a tropical storm after hitting Florida, while Gulf Coast refining continued to recover following storm Harvey.

The U.S. government is releasing half-a-million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a Gulf Coast refinery as the region’s refining industry works to recover from the devastation of Harvey.

DALLAS — Hurricane Harvey is sending pump prices higher for U.S. motorists and causing temporary shifts in the flow of oil and gasoline around the world after taking down a huge chunk of U.S. refining capacity.

Massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Harvey along Texas’ refinery-rich coast could have long-standing and far-reaching consequences for the state’s oil and gas industry and the larger U.S. economy.

For many drillers in the remote Delaware Basin, a section of the broader Permian Basin that stretches across West Texas and New Mexico, the only way to get crude from the fringes of oil boom towns to global markets is to dispatch fleets of trucks to scattered wells, from where they haul oil and water to terminals and various other collection points.

Oil slipped, heading for the biggest weekly loss in a month, as the outlook for demand dimmed in an already shaky market.

U.S. producers are seen pumping away, even with the price of West Texas Intermediate crude lingering below $50 a barrel, according to the latest government estimates.

A growing U.S. economy sparked a jump in fuel demand from companies and travelers in June, which may help to ease a persistent supply glut.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel rose 1.6 cents to $2.507 as crude climbed later in the week of July 24 to its highest price in nearly two months and Saudi Arabia announced it would make additional cuts in oil production, experts said.