Crude-oil futures rallied on Friday, 20 March 2015 as a drop in the U.S. dollar and another decline in U.S. rig counts helped prices score their first weekly gain in five weeks. Traders also positioned themselves before the expiration of the April futures contracts.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April which expired at the close Friday, settled at $45.72 a barrel, up $1.76, or 4%. Crude for May delivery, which became the front month, tacked on $1.04, or 2.3%, to $46.57 a barrel.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index was trading down 2.2% for the week. Commodities priced in dollars, including oil, often trade inversely with the dollar, as moves in the U.S. unit can influence the attractiveness of those commodities to holders of other currencies.
Late Wednesday, the Fed policy statement and Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen were interpreted as signaling the central bank would raise rates more slowly than market participants had anticipated.
Among other energy products, Nymex April gasoline rose 2.4 cents, or 1.3%, to $1.798 a gallon, up 2% for the week. April heating oil ended at $1.734 a gallon, up 1.2 cents, or 0.7%, with prices up 1.2% for the week.
April natural gas fell 2.7 cents, or 1%, to $2.786 per million British thermal units after earlier tapping a high of $2.919 on the back of gains in oil. Prices were up roughly 2.2% for the week.