One of the United States' largest refineries was cutting back production on Tuesday as Hurricane Francine was forecast to pass just east of its location, said people familiar with operations at Exxon Mobil Corp's Baton Rouge,

The storm could drive life-threatening coastal flooding, high winds, drenching rain and a few tornadoes, forecasters said.

Crude oil futures closed higher on Wednesday, fueled by short-covering as Hurricane Francine caused some U.S. offshore production to be shut in as the storm approaches the Louisiana coast, with the rebound from the previous session's heavy selling slowed by weekly builds in U.S. crude and product stockpiles.

Six oil refineries in Louisiana in the path of Hurricane Francine began recovering on Thursday from the storm's passage overnight, companies and sources familiar with operations at the plants said.

Oil futures bounced Wednesday, finding support on industry data that showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories as traders track Hurricane Francine.