Oil prices fall as US dollar gains, hope for supply gains

Gulf Today Report 

Oil prices declined on Friday due to a fall in bond prices that pushed US dollar and hope that oil prices will reach above pre-pandemic levels.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped 72 cents, or 1.1%, to $62.81 a barrel at 05:16 GMT while Brent crude futures for April, which expires on Friday, fell 63 cents, or 0.9%, to $66.25 a barrel.

Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX said "crude oil retreated modestly from recent highs amid a 'risk off' sentiment as Asia-Pacific equities pulled back broadly following a sour lead from Wall Street."

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A strong greenback makes oil more expensive for those purchasing it with other currencies.

OPEC+ is set to meet next week and investors are hopeful that the outcome of the meeting will lead to more supply returning to the market.

"The stakes at play this time around are particularly large (for OPEC+) insofar as oil prices have more than recovered to pre-pandemic levels, global inventories are continuing to trend down, and vaccine rollouts are accelerating," said Lachlan Shaw, National Australia Bank's head of commodity research.