ALBAWABA – Oil prices hovered near a six-month low on Wednesday as the US dollar gained ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) announcement of whether US interest rates will be pinned or hiked for the remainder of the year.
The US dollar index, which gauges the performance of the currency against six others, was up 0.2 percent, as reported by Reuters, at 103.94, recouping most of the previous day's 0.31 percent drop.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s dollar index spot was down 0.01 percent by 1644 Amman Time, at 103.8530.
Oil prices edged up slightly by 1256 GMT, according to Reuters, with both benchmarks gaining more than 0.4 percent.
Brent crude futures for February were up $0.3, or 0.41 percent, at $73.54 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for January gained $0.32, or 0.47 percent, at $68.93 a barrel.
Brent futures closed at their lowest since late June on Tuesday at $73.24 a barrel, incurring a $2.79 a barrel day-on-day loss.
US dollar up, oil prices near 6-month lows - Shutterstock
In its latest monthly oil market report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) blamed falling oil price slide on "exaggerated concerns" about oil demand growth, according to Reuters.
OPEC kept its forecast for world oil demand growth unchanged for 2024 at 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd), and is slated to cut supply by more than 2 million bpd for the first three months of the new year.
Investors will be looking ahead to the Fed's policy decision later on Wednesday, where interest rates are largely expected to be left unchanged for a third time in a row.
Elsewhere, at the COP28 in Dubai, nearly 200 nations reached an historic deal at the climate summit to begin the transition away from fossil fuels. The pledge, however, does not speak about the phase out of fossil fuels, which triggered an angry response by Saudi Arabia and OPEC+.
Saudi Arabia's energy minister said he was in agreement with the COP28 presidency on the final deal, adding that it would not affect the Kingdom's hydrocarbon exports.
