Oil rises as dollar falls

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose today, Feb. 16, driven by weaker dollar, demand growth outlook and after a surprisingly large build in US crude inventories.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading up 0.70% at $85.96 a barrel, at 8:57 am Makkah time.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.9% to reach $79.29 a barrel.

The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.25% to 103.67 points.

On Feb. 15, the US Energy Information Administration revealed that crude stocks increased by 16.3 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 10, compared to expectations that suggested an increase between 1.5 million and two million barrels.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency raised its forecast on global oil demand by 500,000 barrels per day in Q1 2023. It expects an increase in total demand throughout the year by two million barrels per day to 101.9 million barrels.