Crude moves up

Iran's oil export data and weak dollar push up prices

Crude futures closed higher at Nymex on Friday, 23 March 2012 buoyed by concerns about global supplies following a report of a drop in Iranian oil exports, as traders digested the week's economic data, searching for hints on the prospects for demand. Weak dollar also affected prices.

Light and sweet crude oil for May delivery rose $1.52, or 1.4%, to settle at $106.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices ended the week 0.2% lower versus the week-ago close for the April contract, which was the front-month contract last Friday. April crude closed at $107.06 a week ago.



As per latest report, oil exports from Iran appear to have fallen in March by around 300,000 barrels per day, or 14%.

The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by almost 0.45% on Friday.

On Friday, the Commerce Department said sales of new homes dipped 1.6% in February to a seasonally adjusted 313,000, from a slightly downwardly revised 318,000 in January. Market had expected improving sales, at a 330,000 annual rate.

Rounding out energy futures trading, April heating oil rose 3 cents, or 1%, to end at $3.21 a gallon and April gasoline added nearly 5 cents, or 1.4%, to $3.39 a gallon. For the week, futures prices for heating oil fell 2.1%, while gasoline climbed 0.9%.

April natural-gas futures tacked on just under a penny, or 0.3%, to close at $2.28 per million British thermal units, down nearly 2.2% for the week.