The ongoing weakness in the U.S. dollar may also be a supporting factor for oil prices – a depreciating USD makes dollar-denominated oil much cheaper for foreign buyers.
“The weak dollar is one important reason,” said Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank. “Also, the fact that we are above $40 and at multi-month highs is also contributing to the price increase as it is prompting some speculative buying.”
Thousands of oil and gas workers in Kuwait also plan to go on strike from Sunday, contributing to a short-term support for the crude oil market.
“If it is not clear if the strike will last long and will have any meaningful impact on exports or domestic production (including refineries), it does illustrate further the amount of pain that (Gulf) oil producers are also facing at current price levels,” Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix, told Reuters.
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