NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. oil prices increased 0.9 percent Tuesday as Iranian crude oil exports continue to drop and a number of oil production facilities in Gulf of Mexico were closed due to approach of Hurricane Michael.

Daily crude oil exports by Iran dropped to 1.1 million barrels in the first week of October from averaged daily exports of 1.6 million barrels in September, according to industrial data.

"The impacts of the sanctions being reinstated by the United States are highly significant and this is one of the single biggest supportive factors for crude fundamentals over the short and medium term. Having said that, it may well be that we are already in the most supportive phase coming from this change and the effect will soon begin to ease," said JBC Energy_in its daily market report issued on Oct. 8.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Michael resulted in the shutdown of around 40 percent of oil supply and 28 percent of gas production by Tuesday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery grew 0.67 U.S. dollar to settle at 74.96 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, Brent oil price for December delivery advanced 1.09 U.S. dollars to 85 U.S. dollars per barrel. Enditem