(New York) Oil prices ended slightly lower on Friday, handicapped by a rise in the dollar, without however dropping prices below 80 dollars per barrel.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in May, fell 0.40% to $85.43.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery the same month, lost 0.54% to $80.63.
The dollar rose by 0.50% against the euro and by the same amount against the pound, which weighs on the price of a barrel which is invoiced in dollars.
“The decisions and speeches of the BoE (British central bank, editor’s note) and the BNS (Swiss central bank) weighed on their respective currencies”, thus allowing the dollar to strengthen, which weighed down crude oil prices, explained Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Energy.
Since black gold prices are denominated in dollars, an appreciation of the American currency discourages oil purchases by reducing the purchasing power of buyers using foreign currencies.
“The strength of the dollar was an obstacle” to the rise in prices “and somewhat calmed commodity prices during a session without much news,” also underlined Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group.
However, according to this analyst, crude oil prices, maintained above $80 for the Texan barrel (WTI) in particular, are supported by demand for gasoline in the United States, which has been strong for several weeks.
“The supply of gasoline is tight and there is the perception, as we await new data on American stocks next week, that the market, by concluding above $80, is signaling that gasoline prices raw materials will remain strong,” said Phil Flynn.