REUTERS
Oil continued its descent on Friday pressured by a stronger dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve had raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, in line with market expectations, Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported with reference to trade data.
As of 9:20 MSK, February futures for North Sea Brent blend dropped to $37.21 per barrel on London-based Intercontinental Exchange, according to Vedomosti.
February futures for WTI crude fell to $36.19 per barrel, while January futures for the same crude oil were down to $34.79 per barrel, according to the report.
The oil market continues to react to the decision of the Federal Reserve on rate hike to 0.25%-0.5% per annum, marking the end of a seven-year-long period of easy money and near-zero rates. New projections show officials expect the fed-funds rate to creep up to 1.375% by the end of 2016.
Read alsoFederal Reserve raises key interest rate, first time since 2006In addition, U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday signed a new extension of the federal budget that will fund the government until December 22, avoiding partial shutdown at midnight Wednesday and giving Congress more time to vote on an agreement, said the White House.
Congress leaders Tuesday reached a tentative agreement on the federal budget worth $1.15 billion for the fiscal year 2016, which would include extension of tax exemptions and ending the ban on oil exports.
Lifting the 1970’s-era restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports would lead to further increase in oil supplies on the world market.