He oil price Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.1% this Thursday and closed at $78.49 a barrel, weighed down by the surprise increase in US commercial reserves that was announced yesterday and by the revaluation of the dollar against other currencies.
At the close of business in New yorka barrel of WTI for March delivery was down $0.10 from the previous close.
Crude closed its third day lower after the Energy Information Administration reported that last week commercial reserves increased by 16.3 million barrelsten times more than expected, due to seasonal maintenance work in the refineries.
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Apart from that, today the dollar appreciated against other currencies after the head of the Cleveland Federal Reserve, Loretta Mesterwould suggest that the central bank will extend its aggressive policy of raising interest rates if there is an unexpected increase in inflation.
Since US crude is traded in dollars, the appreciation of the currency makes this commodity more expensive for foreign buyers, which puts downward pressure on its price.
On the other hand, the futures contracts of gas natural for March they subtracted 0.8 dollars, up to 2.39 dollars, and those of gasoline with expiration the same month fell 6 dollars, up to almost 2.44 dollars.
