ZCZC
BCN-15
US-ENERGY-OIL-PRICE
Oil prices keep rising as U.S. rig count falls
NEW YORK, June 30, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Oil prices continued to rally on Friday
after data showed the number of active U.S. drilling rigs declined this week.
The number of rigs operating in U.S. oil fields fell by four to a total of
858 rigs this week, oilfield service firm Baker Hughes said in its weekly
report on Friday.
A weaker U.S. dollar also made the dollar-priced commodity more attractive
for holders of other currencies.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers,
decreased 0.68 percent to 94.662 at 3:00 p.m. (2000 GMT).
Meanwhile, the energy market has been reacting to threats from the Trump
administration this week, who indicated that the White House would look to
sanction countries that don’t reduce their imports of Iranian crude to “zero”
by Nov. 4.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose 0.70 U.S. dollar to
settle at 74.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while
Brent crude for August delivery added 1.59 dollars to 79.44 dollars a barrel
on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1300