Oil trades comatose despite Iraq’s promise to cut produce

Strength in the US dollar continues to overshadow the increased prospects of OPEC deal, thus ensuring the oil prices trade comatose in Asia.

At the time of writing, WTI oil was trading flat around $48.00/barrel. Brent oil was trading around $48.90/barrel.

The Dollar index rose to a high of 101.96 after the strong US data and the hawkish Fed minutes increased prospects of a steeper rate Fed rate hike path. Strong dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities expensive for other countries.

Moreover, this overshadowed the comments from the Iraqi Oil Minister who said, “Iraq is ready to cooperate with OPEC and cut production”.