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Oil prices drop amid demand worries, U.S. dollar strength

NEW YORK
2021-08-20 04:07

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NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell on Thursday, weighed down by surging COVID-19 infections and a strong U.S. dollar.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery lost 1.77 U.S. dollars to settle at 63.69 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery decreased 1.78 dollars to close at 66.45 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

"Oil prices remain under pressure," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Thursday.

"Besides the concerns about demand, which have already been discussed at length, the pronounced slide in base metals and the strong U.S. dollar are now weighing on prices," he added.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.45 percent to 93.5632 in late trading on Thursday.

Traders also digested the U.S. fuel inventory data.

U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 3.2 million barrels during the week ending Aug. 13, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.

At 435.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6 percent below the five year average for this time of year.

According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.7 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.7 million barrels.
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