Oil prices rally amid weak US dollar

New York, March 18: Oil prices extended the rally as declining dollar made the dollar-priced crude less expensive and more attractive for buyers holding other currencies.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery on Thursday moved up $1.74 to settle at $40.2 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery increased $1.21 to close at $41.54 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange, Xinhua news agency reported.

US dollar decreased against other major currencies on Thursday as the Federal Reserve statement released Wednesday proved dovish.

The declining output from US also buoyed the market. Crude production of the country lost 10,000 to 9.068 million barrels a day last week, according to the weekly report of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released Wednesday.

US crude stockpiles increased less than expected. Crude supplies last week gained 1.3 million barrels to 523.2 million barrels, 64.7 million barrels more than one year before, according to EIA.

IANS