Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 1/5/18

Futures in New York are up 3.7 percent this month, even after a 1 percent drop on Monday, following data that showed an increase in U.S. drilling activity. A potential withdrawal in May by U.S. President Donald Trump from a 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Iran would reimpose sanctions on the Middle Eastern producer and curb its exports. Meanwhile, OPEC is trimming output even after concluding it has cleared 97 percent of the surplus that has weighed on prices. “Obviously the rig count that came on Friday was quite bearish,” says Torbjorn Kjus, chief oil analyst at DNB Bank ASA. “There’s a lot of profit in the books here for the non-commercials. You shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a $5 flush out and some profit taking.” In the U.S., working oil rigs rose by five last week to 825, the highest level since March 2015, according to data from Baker Hughes. Click Read More below for additional information.

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.794; Month Ago: $3.923; Year Ago: $3.417. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $5.368; Month Ago: $5.122; Year Ago: $3.643.

The global oil benchmark flirted with the $80-a-barrel level again on Tuesday, underlining concerns that an unexpectedly strong crude rally could eventually begin to weigh on economic growth. The combination of renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran, potential sanctions on Venezuela, a rising geopolitical risk premium, strong demand and other factors have made talk of $100 crude sound less outlandish. Indeed, some analysts argue that the backdrop now leaves the market more open to potential price spikes. So what if oil did climb back to triple digits for the first time since 2014? Economists led by Arend Kapteyn at UBS laid it out in a wide-ranging note on Tuesday. Click Read More below for additional information.