West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures in New York closed at a two-week low on Thursday (March 9) and closed in negative territory for the third day in a row as investors continued to hold back. They were concerned that the US would an aggressive increase in Federal Reserve interest rates affecting the economy and the demand for oil.
The WTI crude oil contract will be introduced in April. They were down 94 cents, or 1.2%, at $75.72 a barrel. This is the lowest close since February 27 this year.
The Brent crude oil contract (BRENT) will be introduced in May. It was down $1.07, or 1.3%, at $81.59/barrel. This is the lowest close since February 22 this year.
The oil market continued to be pressured by concerns about the impact of the Federal Reserve’s campaign to raise interest rates Federal Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress: The latest US economic data is stronger than expected. This indicates that the final Fed rate will be higher than expected. And if all the data suggests that the Fed should tighten monetary policy more quickly, the Fed will accelerate raising interest rates.
However, crude oil futures found support during the day. after company TotalEnergies said it was unable to deliver oil from the refinery yesterday. Because it was affected by the French workers’ strike.
In addition, the market gained momentum during the day. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US crude inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels last week. Analysts were expecting the increase of 700,000 barrels.
