Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 5/3/24

Futures in New York rose 2.9 percent on Wednesday. An Energy Information Administration report showed shrinking American petroleum surpluses and the first crude withdrawal from the largest U.S. storage complex in six weeks. The U.S. draw-downs underlined optimism that an OPEC-led effort to curb global supplies will be reinforced later this week when the cartel and allied producers gather in Saudi Arabia. The EIA reported U.S. crude stockpiles dropped 1.07 million barrels last week, while supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma, pipeline hub dropped by 1.12 million. Gasoline supplies fell 2.97 million barrels and distillate stocks slid 3.11 million barrels to the lowest level since November. Click Read More below for additional information.

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.776232; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.157751; American Dollar to Euro = 1.206695; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.009148; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.053203.

The expectation that sanctions will again frustrate Iran’s oil industry and limit global supply has helped to boost prices close to 5% since the announcement. In the past, sanctions against Iran have cut the country’s crude exports by around 1 million barrels a day. But because the European Union and other intentional players have decided to stick with the deal, U.S. sanctions are likely to affect only up to around 350,000 barrels a day, once reinstated within six months’ time, according to analysts at MUFG Bank. The surge in prices this week prompted renewed oil market speculation that Brent could again reach $100 a barrel — a level not seen since before the price crash of late 2014. Click Read More below for additional information.