WTI oil price hovers at $91, strong US dollar caps gains

18 January 2011 18 January 2011

BonTrade

WTI oil prices open today’s session at $91 a barrel after light holiday trading saw oil prices pull back from January gains and the US dollar traded higher on foreign exchange markets.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for February 2011 delivery was trading at $91.03 a barrel, 06.30 GMT this morning on the NYMEX in electronic trading after yesterday’s Martin Luther King Day in the US saw the NYMEX floor closed for the holiday.

Meanwhile, the ICE US Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against six major world currencies was higher at 79.41 early this morning.

Alarming Oil Prices – IEA

“Oil prices are alarming at their current level.” said Nobua Tanaka, president of the IEA, calling on OPEC member countries to be flexible with oil production to prevent runaway crude prices from denting any economic recovery.

However, several OPEC representatives, including Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri, have said recently that they believe the global oil market remains well supplied, and a special meeting to raise oil output from OPEC member countries is widely seen as unlikely.