Oil futures were up slightly around midday Friday, though earlier gains spurred by news that Iran had occupied an Iraqi oil well were pared as the U.S. dollar strengthened.
Oil futures were up slightly around
midday
Friday, though earlier gains spurred by news that
Iran
had
occupied an Iraqi oil well were pared as the U.S. dollar strengthened.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery recently traded 36 cents, or 0.5%,
higher at $73.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, having touched
an intraday high of $74.69 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange
traded 13 cents, or 0.1%, lower at $73.24 a barrel.
"The rally ran out of steam due to the impact of the dollar," said
Tom Bentz, analyst and trader with BNP Paribas in
New
York
. "In general, the market reacted to
Iran
but
struggled to keep going."
The dollar surged Friday, pushing the euro below $1.43 for the first time in
over three months. Oil tends to fall on a stronger dollar as this makes the
dollar-denominated commodity more expensive to other currency holders.
This erased much of the $2 a barrel rally earlier in the session that was
caused by news that
Iran
had
occupied an Iraqi oil well. Traders had bought back contracts they had previously
sold, nervous that oil prices could rise even further.
Iranian forces took hold of an Iraqi well in a disputed section of the border
after opening fire against Iraqi oil workers, an official from state-run Missan
Oil Co. told Dow Jones Newswires.
But the official said the incident happened two weeks ago, when around
10 to 11
Iranian troops occupied well 4 in the al-Fukka oil
field. There were no casualties reported.
There were conflicting reports earlier in the day about whether the incursion
had actually taken place, but "if you hear rumors going into a weekend,
you will not take a chance," said Phil Flynn, analyst with PFG Best in
Chicago
.
Incidents involving
Iran
tend
to rattle the oil markets due to concerns over the possibility of a disruption
to oil supply. In the past,
Iran
has
threatened to block the
Strait of Hormuz
, a
key waterway from the
Persian Gulf
through which 40% of the
world's maritime oil shipments go through.
Yet recent international tensions with Iran - mainly concerning its nuclear
program -have had only a minor impact on oil prices, as the massive level of
oil inventories globally have allayed any worries about Iran cutting off
supply.
Oil prices were also gleaning some support from a cold snap across
Europe
and
the
U.S.
, with
market participants hopeful that this may boost heating oil demand and start to
draw down the massive overhang of distillate stocks, a category that includes
heating oil and diesel.
Front-month January reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded
86 points, or 0.5%, higher at $1.8606 a gallon. January heating oil recently
traded 32 points, or 0.2%, lower at $1.9542 a gallon.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τετ, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 20:09
Τετ, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 20:06
Τρι, 15 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 17:24
Τρι, 15 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 17:21
Δευ, 14 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 18:15