Oil prices fell on international markets towards $82 due to fears that more aggressive interest rate hikes in the USA will negatively affect demand.
On the London market, the price of a barrel was 82.38 dollars on Wednesday, according to the data published by OilPrice. It had a slight increase in the morning trading to 82.60 dollars. On the American market, a barrel was at 76.47 dollars, while the current value of Texas oil is 76.54 dollars.
Investors’ concern was caused by the US central bank president’s statement, Jerome Powell, that due to strong economic indicators, the Fed will probably have to increase interest rates more than expected.
Powell’s approach boosted the dollar’s value, which reached its highest level in the last three months and thus halted the rise in the oil price since it implies weaker demand from buyers with other currencies.
The number of US private sector employees rose more than expected in February, signaling continued strength in the labor market.
Forecasts of reduced supply from independent producers and continued demand recovery in Asia also stopped a significant price drop.
According to the analyst
Barclays analysts said they expect a continued recovery in civil aviation demand in China and neighboring countries, stabilization of industrial activity, and slower supply growth from non-OPEC+ countries, leading to a deficit in the oil market towards the end of the year.
Traders are now turning to official data on inventories in the United States after data released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed crude oil inventories fell for the first time in 10 weeks by 3.8 million barrels last week.
Analysts had forecast the reports to show modest growth.
