Oil prices fell on Thursday as some U.S. refineries shut operations ahead of hurricane Harvey's landfall.

Tropical Storm Harvey has been upgraded to hurricane Thursday afternoon and is expected to make landfall Friday along the Texas Coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Two refineries in Texas have already been shutting down operations in preparation of the storm.

Analysts said investors were buying refined products like gasoline and selling crude oil as they anticipated refinery outages on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The West Texas Intermediate for October Delivery lost 0.98 dollar to settle at 47.43 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery erased 0.53 dollar to close at 52.04 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.