Oil Prices Decline

Oil prices worldwide are declining on Thursday morning, as evidenced by trading data and analyst comments regarding concerns over demand following the release of the decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) meeting.

The price of August futures for Brent crude oil has decreased by 0.27%, reaching $82.38 per barrel, while July futures for WTI crude oil have dropped by 0.25%, now priced at $78.30 per barrel.

On Wednesday evening, the minutes from the U.S. Fed meeting were released, indicating that the regulator has maintained the base interest rate in the range of 5.25-5.5% for the sixth consecutive time. Additionally, according to the minutes, the U.S. Fed's Open Markets Committee does not consider it appropriate to lower the interest rate until it sees more confidence in slowing inflation.

The decisions regarding the Fed's discount rate influence the exchange rate of the dollar, which in turn affects the demand for commodities from holders of other currencies. "Concerns have arisen again regarding oil demand due to changes in the Fed's 'base' disposition," said Charu Chanana, an analyst at Saxo Capital Markets Pte in Singapore, to Bloomberg.