Oil prices hold near US dollar 46 per barrel

Oil today held near 46 dollars a barrel, close to its highest since March, lifted by U.S. producers shutting most of their offshore Gulf of Mexico output ahead of Hurricane Laura and a report showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories   In intra-day trade, Brent crude prices were trading around 45 dollars and 70 cents per barrel while WTI crude prices were around 43 dollars and 10 cents per barrel.