Ankara
ANKARA
Oil prices fell on Thursday over the double whammy of increasing demand woes and the rising dollar value, discouraging investors in the market trading in more expensive US dollar-indexed oil.
The International benchmark crude Brent traded at $79.69 per barrel at 0709GMT, a 0.01% decrease from the closing price of $79.70 a barrel in the previous trading session on Wednesday.
The American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), traded at the same time at $74.19 per barrel, down 0.04% from Wednesday’s close of $74.22 per barrel.
Both benchmarks have been keeping their upward trend over worries about possible disruptions in the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of recent attacks by the Yemeni rebel group Houthis, which have forced carriers to avoid this route.
However, prices have been pressured down after industrial data revealed a drop in demand in the US, the world’s largest crude oil consuming country.
According to data released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, US commercial crude oil inventories increased by around 2.9 million barrels to 443.7 million barrels, compared to the American Petroleum Institute’s expectation of a rise of around 939,000 barrels.
Gasoline inventories also rose by around 2.7 million barrels over the same period.
Oil prices indexed to the US dollar came under pressure from the bullish trend of the greenback fueled by international currency trends and the anticipation of the PCE price index report, the Federal Reserve’s primary gauge of inflation. This upcoming data could be a game-changer for the dollar, given that the Fed pushing back against the notion of swift rate cuts next year.
