Oil rises for the second day in row

Oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Thursday, while the US dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, and following a large drop in the US crude inventories.

US crude rose 0.85% to $72.08 a barrel, after opening at $71.47, and hit a low at $71.41, and Brent crude rose 1.0% to $75.06 a barrel, after opening at $74.31, and hit a low at $74.30.

The US crude gained 1.7% yesterday, and Brent rose 1.5%, within recovery attempts from a 1-week low.

The dollar index fell 0.2% today, pulling back from its 3-week high of 96.90 points on profit-taking.

Alongside profit taking, the US dollar fell after Markets have absorbed the US Federal Reserve hawkish decisions.

The Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that the US crude inventories fell 4.6 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 1.8 million barrels.

According to the data, the total US commercial stocks fell to 428 million barrels, the lowest level since the week ending on October 15.

While the US held last week, with the total at 11.7 million barrels per day, which is the highest level since May 2020.