After the market closes on Friday, the prices of Petroleum registered a fall as the market assessed the consequences of interest rate hikes by central banks, including the US Federal Reserve.
After the Bureau of Labor Statistics shared the summary of the Consumer Price Index this week, noting that prices rose 7.1% annually in November, the Fed shared when it will raise the interest rate.
On December 14, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has decided increase the reference rate by 50 basis points, to a target range of between 4.25 and 4.5 percent. Meanwhile, Powel commented that the increases will continue.
On the other hand, also this week, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank raised interest rates to 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, to continue with the objective of decelerating inflation.
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Prices per barrel of Brent and West Texas Intermediate oil today, December 17
In accordance with Bloomberg EnergyAfter the market closes on Friday, these are the oil prices this Saturday, December 17: the price of a barrel West Texas Intermediate (WTI) registered a fall of $1.82 dollars or 2.39%, trading at $74.29. Secondly, Brent crude fell 2.67% or $2.17, trading at $79.04.
Despite the drop in oil prices following the consequences of interest rate hikes by central banks, both contracts still posted a weekly profit amid supply disruption concerns as well as hopes for a demand recovery in China.
Both Brent and WTI registered an increase of around $3 dollars compared to last week when they closed at $76.10 and $71.02, respectively.
