US interest rates are expected to remain higher for longer than previously thought. This has a negative impact on oil prices, writes Reuters.

A barrel of the European reference oil, Brent, costs USD 83.51 on Thursday morning compared to USD 83.82 on Wednesday afternoon. At the same time, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil is trading at USD 79.20, compared to USD 79.49 on Wednesday afternoon.

US oil inventories fell by 6.49 million barrels last week, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute, API, Reuters reports.

Oil prices have been under pressure on expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high and not introducing any reductions until September at the earliest. At the beginning of the year, the market expected interest rates to be lowered in June.

This weekend’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, is likely to be a driver for oil prices. Meanwhile, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released this afternoon.

In the rest of the commodity market, a troy ounce of gold costs USD 2,336.56 on Thursday morning compared to USD 2,343.63 on Wednesday afternoon.

English edit by Kristoffer Grønbæk