(New York) Oil prices continued to decline on Friday, weighed down by the rebound of the dollar as well as by a poor US macroeconomic indicator, which adds to the prospect of the resumption of Iraqi exports to Turkey.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in July, lost 1.08%, to close at 74.17 dollars.
As for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) American, with maturity in June, it yielded 1.17%, to 70.04 dollars a barrel.
“Courses are penalized by the momentum of the dollar”, observed, in a note, Edward Moya, analyst of Oanda. In two days, the greenback has regained nearly 1.5% against the euro.
Another element of pressure on prices, the Iraqi Minister of Petroleum, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, told Reuters that there “(would) be no further reduction” in the production of the Organization of the countries oil exporters (OPEC) and its allies of the OPEC+ agreement at the next ministerial meeting on June 4.
“As for Iraq, we cannot reduce the volumes any further,” explained the leader.
OPEC+’s inability to sustainably firm prices, after eight members announced cuts of 1.16 million barrels per day in early April, has so far fueled uncertainty about a possible additional cut announced in June.
On Thursday, the prices of black gold had already fallen with the announcement of an official request transmitted by Iraq to Turkey with a view to the resumption of crude exports from the first to the second, which represent, in normal times , some 450,000 barrels per day.
For Michael Lynch, of Strategic Energy & Economic Research (SEER), the energy market was also badly oriented by the monthly survey of the University of Michigan on the morale of American consumers.
Consumer confidence plunged in May, to 57.7 points, the lowest in six months, while economists expected a much more moderate deceleration.
The market shrugged off statements on Thursday by US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who said the United States was considering buying crude on the market as early as this summer to replenish its strategic reserves.
The minister had however estimated, at the end of March, that it would be “difficult” to start this process this year.
“People think they won’t do anything unless prices keep falling,” according to Michael Lynch.