Oil prices post third weekly drop after volatile week | Reuters

Oil prices post third weekly drop after volatile week | Reuters

Oil prices fell on Friday, wiping out gains from the previous session, on worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve will accelerate plans to boost interest rates to tame inflation.

Brent crude futures fell 70 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $82.17 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 80 cents, or 1%, to settle at $80.79 a barrel.

Both benchmarks fell for a third consecutive week, hit by a strengthening dollar and speculation that President Joe Biden's administration might release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cool prices. On a weekly basis, Brent fell 0.7%, while WTI declined 0.6%.

"This week has been a good reminder for oil markets that prices are not only affected by the supply-demand trajectory, but also from monetary policy forecasts and by forms of government intervention," said Louise Dickson, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy. "Higher interest rates would provide even further support to the dollar and even more downward pressure on oil prices."