Oil prices slumped on Friday as the dollar finally surged against the euro in what was its first improvement in more than nine months.
Oil futures declined for the first time in three weeks as the industry awaited the official jobless report by the US Department of Labor although there are already speculations that the rates will rise for a second consecutive month in September.
Crude rates for November delivery fell $1.37, or 1.7 percent, to $80.30 a barrel in electronic trading platform of the New York Mercantile Exchange with its latest price of $80.56 as of 11:27 a.m. London time. The total percentile change in the oil contracts saw a decline of up to 1.3 percent this week. Price falls were also visible in the Brent crude market as November settlements dropped $1.22 to $82.21 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.
The dollar surged 0.3 percent with its improved trading price of $1.3870 against the euro, a major boost after its year-to-date lowest price of $1.4029 yesterday. Total gains for the crude are estimated at around 9.1 percent in New York since Sept. 1, with significant drops in the Dollar Index of 6 percent.
North Sea Brent crude will most likely see an up tick of 15 percent in November to 160,000 barrels a day compared with 139,032 barrels a day in October, according to industry insiders.
The US jobless rate is expected to drop to 9.7 percent from its current 9.6 percent in August as the Labor Department will release its report today.
