Oil prices dropped on Friday, fueled by the rising value of the US dollar that is discouraging investments in more expensive dollar-priced oil.
International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $82.17 per barrel at 0634 GMT for a 0.84% loss after closing the previous session at $82.87 a barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $80.89 per barrel at the same time for a 0.85% drop after trade ended at $81.59 a barrel in the previous session.
After US inflation hit a new record high, forcing the Fed to rethink its strategy, investors flocked to the dollar, which rose substantially late Wednesday.
The US inflation rate for October came in at 0.9%, or 6.2% on a year-over-year basis, far exceeding market estimates. This is the highest rate since mid-1982, and a significant increase from the 5.4% rate in September.
Fueled by these rising rates, the US dollar index, which includes a basket of currencies like the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and the Swiss franc, closed Wednesday with a 0.95% rise and Thursday with a 0.35% rise to close the day at 95.18. The index reached 95.22 at 0629 GMT on Friday.
Exerting further price pressure, US inventories of gasoline and distillates are continuing to fall. However, US commercial crude oil inventories increased 0.2% during the week ending Nov. 5, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories rose by 1 million barrels to 435.1 million barrels, less than the market expectation of a 1.9 million-barrel rise.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr