Summary Oil prices edged higher for the second day in a row Thursday on dollar weakness.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices edged higher for the second day in a row Thursday on dollar weakness in the aftermath of Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen s dovish signals this week.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May added two cents at $38.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent North Sea crude for May delivery, the global benchmark, rose to $39.60 a barrel in London, up 34 cents from Wednesday s settlement.
Prices swung back and forth into losses and gains before settling slightly higher.
The rise in prices "is mostly a function of the lower dollar. The dollar is down strongly today and was at a five-month low at one point, so crude oil came back, rallied into the green," said Bob Yawger of Mizuho Securities USA.
A weaker greenback typically bolsters the appeal of the dollar-priced commodity for buyers using stronger currencies. The dollar has slumped since Yellen sounded a cautious tone Tuesday on raising US interest rates, given the global economic slowdown.
Analysts said the market remained focused on the global oversupply of crude, which is keeping a lid on prices. The United States reported Wednesday that commercial crude inventories had climbed last week to another record high, underscoring the glut.
Yawger pointed to reports that OPEC had boosted production in March, even as the 13-nation cartel plans to meet with non-OPEC producers next month to discuss a potential output freeze to stabilize the market. Oil prices are down more than 60 percent from mid-2014.
"That flies in the face of the April 17 meeting so that was a bearish development and helped to the downside," he said.
Tim Evans of Citi Futures highlighted that early estimates of March OPEC production suggested a net increase of 100,000 barrels per day.
