Light, sweet crude oil prices for October settled modestly lower after the US Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates unchanged, and analysts said that decision weakened the dollar, which supported the oil price.
Oil trades in US dollars so a weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for buyers using foreign currencies.
The October crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 25¢ to $46.90/bbl on Sept. 17 while the November crude oil contract was down 31¢ to $47.20/bbl.
The natural gas contract for October edged down by less than a penny to a rounded $2.65/MMbtu. The Henry Hub, La., gas price held unchanged at $2.68/MMbtu.
Heating oil for October delivery declined 1.1¢ to a rounded $1.53/gal. The price for reformulated gasoline stock for oxygenates blending for October was down less than a penny to remain at a rounded $1.38/gal.
The November ICE contract for Brent crude dropped 67¢ to $49.08/bbl, and the December contract fell by 66¢ to $49.86/bbl. The ICE gas oil contract for October was down $9.25 to $467.75/tonne.
The average price for the OPEC basket of 12 benchmark crudes rose 53¢ to $45.10/bbl on Sept. 17.
