Oil Futures Get a Boost from Weak US Dollar and Qatar Minister’s Comments

After trading lower for six consecutive sessions, crude oil futures reversed direction at the open today as a slightly weaker US dollar lent some support. Traders expect the oil market to take cues from the dollar movements and global equity markets in the next few sessions.

New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $78.24 a barrel at 0721 GMT, gaining $0.24 in the Globex electronic session. Meanwhile, March Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange slipped $0.16 to $76.94 a barrel.

Oil prices moved higher when the greenback softened to a one-month-low against the yen during Asian hours on concerns regarding weak earnings results from the US financial sector next week. The oil market also got a boost after Qatar’s oil minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah, indicated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will leave the output of oil unchanged when it meets in March. However, comments by Saudi Arabia's deputy oil minister were more measured as he said it was early to gauge the outcome of the next meeting. He, nevertheless, added that the current crude price of $70-$80 a barrel looks reasonable.

Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for February, the benchmark gasoline contract, rose 23 points to 204.77¢ a gallon, while February heating oil traded at 203.94¢, 66 points lower.

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