Oil Drops in Volatile Week With Suez Canal Blockage Dragging On
- Tankers, other ships are backed up in canal for a third day
- WTI fell 4.3% Thursday after rising nearly 6% in prior session
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Oil dropped as a strengthening dollar and mounting lockdowns in Europe blunted the potential impact of crude cargoes backing up outside the blocked Suez Canal.
Futures fell 4.3% in New York on Thursday in the wake of a stronger U.S. dollar, which reduces the appeal of commodities priced in the currency. Work to re-float the massive ship that’s stuck in the canal continued without success. While the Suez blockage is complicating trade, a long-term realignment of global crude flows has seen westbound shipments from Persian Gulf producers fall, limiting the impact on oil prices.