The price of Petroleum Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 2.4% this Thursday and closed at US$77.29 a barrel, its lowest level in almost three weeks, due to the prospect of further rises in interest rates and the strength of the dollar.
At the close of operations in New York, the barrel of WTI for May delivery lost US$1.87 compared to the previous day’s close, when it had already fallen sharply.
The analysts point to expectations of further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve of the US (Fed) and other central banks as one of the reasons for these declines, together with the strengthening of the dollar with respect to other currencies.
Since the dollar is the currency with which oil is traded, its increases make it more expensive for foreign buyers, which affects its demand.
Those factors They have caused the US benchmark crude to fall despite a drop in the country’s commercial reserves by 4.6 million barrels, almost four times higher than expected and which places levels at their lowest in more than two months, according to the Government from the US on Wednesday.
He recoil The oil price was paralleled today by a bearish day in the stock market and placed the energy sector among the biggest losers of the day on Wall Street.
On the other hand, the contracts Natural gas futures for May were up almost 3 cents to $2.25, and gasoline futures due the same month were down nearly 6 cents to 2.59.