The price of U.S. crude oil surpasses $70 per barrel with the recovery of Gulf of Mexico production.

• As of Monday, over 200,000 barrels per day were still not operational in the Gulf of Mexico.
• The Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates Wednesday is also causing the oil market to prepare.

On Tuesday, U.S. crude oil traded above $70 per barrel, despite production in the Gulf of Mexico still being in recovery mode after Hurricane Francine.

As of Monday, over 200,000 barrels per day were still offline in the Gulf, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Immediately after checks are completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back online, the agency stated.

Here are Tuesday's energy prices:

• The October contract for crude oil is $70.4 per barrel, representing a 32-cent increase or 0.5% rise. Year-to-date, the U.S. has seen a 2% decline in crude oil.
• The November contract price for oil is $72.93 per barrel, which represents an 18 cent increase, or approximately 0.3%. Despite this, the global benchmark has dropped more than 5% year to date.
• The price of gasoline in October was $1.974 per gallon, which represents a 0.3% increase. However, year to date, gasoline prices have decreased by approximately 6%.
• The October contract price for natural gas is $2.396 per thousand cubic feet, representing a 1% increase. Despite this, year-to-date, gas prices have decreased by more than 4%.

The Federal Reserve is set to announce interest rate changes on Wednesday, with the oil market and Wall Street both anticipating a rate reduction. While there is consensus that rates will be lowered, there is disagreement among investors about the extent of the reduction.

This quarter, U.S. crude oil has dropped over 13%, while Brent has fallen almost 16%, due to slowing demand in China, the world's largest crude importer, and OPEC+'s plan to boost production in December.