This week’s decision by the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates combined with cautionary beliefs about weak economic activity and how it could hurt oil demands in the coming year sent crude oil prices slipping Thursday.
One of those comments came from Chair Jerome Powell who warned Wednesday inflation was stubborn. Reuters reported as a result of the interest rate cut, the U.S. dollar rose to a two-year high, making oil more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
As a result, West Texas Intermediate crude futures for January delivery dropped 67 cents or 1% on Thursday, settling at $69.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The January contract expired Thursday and the more active WTI February contract fell 64 cents to $69.38 a barrel.
Global benchmark, Brent crude slumped by 51 cents or 0.7% and closed at $72.88 a barrel.
Natural gas up 0.21 at $3.58 – change 6.22%
It was another day of losses for most Oklahoma energy stocks. Canoo suffered a 25% drop and Empire Petroleum skidded nearly 3.5%.