Concerns Over Interest Rates Hike and Stronger US Dollar Weighed on Oil Prices

Oil prices dropped on the back of growing concerns over the possibility of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates and the surge in dollar value against global counterparts.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian crude oil is measured, fell by $3.69 from $88.86 a barrel it peaked earlier today to $85.17 per barrel when the New York market opened. The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed $3.91 to $81.9 per barrel, down from $85.81 it opened during the Asian trading session.

The decline in oil prices was after the US dollar jumped to a two-week high on Monday against its global counterparts, largely due to the tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine and the likelihood of the Fed raising interest rates this week.

Francesco Pesole, a strategist at ING Bank, said the increase in dollar value could stall if the Fed signalled a preference for balance sheet reduction against the widely expected interest rate as means to tighten policy.

“If markets see the Fed willing to let balance sheet reduction do the heavy lifting, that may force a scaleback in forecasts for the number of rate hikes,” he said.

“The dollar will find more support from actual rate hike expectations than expectations of draining liquidity out of the market.”

Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank, explained that the crisis in both Ukraine and the Middle East “justify a risk premium on the oil price because the countries involved – Russia and the UAE – are important members of OPEC+”.

Tension in the United Arab Emirates rose on Monday following an interception of two Houthi ballistic missiles targeting the Gulf country after a deadly attack a week earlier.