Brent Oil Hovered Above $74 a Barrel

Brent oil hovered above $74 a barrel on June 17. Today, a barrel of Brent oil is trading at $74.05 in global markets.

The barrel of Brent oil, which went up to $ 74.96 yesterday, closed the day at $ 74.39. The barrel of Brent oil is trading at $74.05 with a decrease of 0.5 percent compared to the closing at 09:07 am today. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil was traded at $71.84 a barrel. The rising US dollar after the US Federal Reserve's (FED) statements played a role in the decrease in oil prices. In line with expectations, the FED did not change the policy rate, keeping it constant in the range of 0-0.25%. In the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), it was noted that possible interest rate hike steps could begin in 2023. The committee previously noted in March that no rate hike is expected until 2024. Despite the fact that FEDD kept interest rates constant, the signals that it could raise interest rates faster than expected in the short term increased the value of the US dollar in international markets. The fact that the commercial crude oil stocks of the USA fell more than expected, created the perception that the demand was high and limited the downward movement of prices. According to the data of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), commercial crude oil stocks in the country decreased by 7 million 400 thousand barrels (1.6 percent) last week to approximately 466 million 700 thousand barrels. The market expectation was that inventories would decrease by about 3 million barrels. In technical terms, it was stated that the range of 74.25 to 74.47 dollars can be followed as resistance and the range of 74.03 to 73.81 dollars as support in Brent oil.