EghtesadOnline: President Donald Trump, facing his first major test in coping with a natural disaster, pushed federal emergency officials on Friday to be ready to help Gulf Coast residents as Hurricane Harvey bore down on the region.

EghtesadOnline: Few Americans care about ethylene. Many have probably never heard of it. As it turns out, this colorless, flammable gas is arguably the most important petrochemical on the planet -- and much of it comes from the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast. Ethylene is one of the big reasons the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey in the chemical communities along the Gulf of Mexico is likely to ripple through U.S. manufacturing of essential items from milk jugs to mattresses.

EghtesadOnline: The Trump administration sent Congress a request Friday for almost $8 billion in initial relief for Hurricane Harvey victims and suggested the assistance be authorized in tandem with a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling, a move that House Republicans are unlikely to embrace.

EghtesadOnline: Oil prices slid on Wednesday but gasoline spiked to its highest since mid-2015 as flooding and storm damage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey knocked out almost a quarter of U.S. refineries, crimping demand for crude but raising fears of fuel shortages.

EghtesadOnline: Oil markets were roiled on Monday after Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc along the U.S. Gulf coast over the weekend, knocking out numerous refineries and some crude production.

EghtesadOnline: U.S. stocks and Treasuries rose while the dollar sank after Janet Yellen’s speech didn’t take the hawkish tone some expected. Oil gained as Hurricane Harvey churned toward the energy-rich Texas coast.

EghtesadOnline: Hurricane Harvey weakened to a category 1 hurricane as it moved inland over Texas on Saturday and would likely become a tropical storm later, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.