Baghdad: Oil prices fell in early Asian transactions today, Monday, for the second session in a row, affected by the rise of the dollar after renewed concerns about the continuation of high interest rates for a longer period and the lack of risk appetite among investors.
By dawn today, Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $84.84 per barrel, after falling 0.6% upon settlement on Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also fell 39 cents, or 0.5%, to $80.34 per barrel.
The rise of the dollar raises the cost of purchasing oil denominated in the US currency for holders of other currencies.
But crude contracts rose by about 3% last week due to indications of increased demand for oil products in the United States, the world’s largest consumer, as well as the continued implementation of production cuts in the OPEC+ group.
Oil prices received support from geopolitical risks in the Middle East due to the war in the Gaza Strip, as well as the intensification of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil
refineries.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency