Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 12/30/22

Gasoline surged to the highest in two years and oil declined as flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey inundated refining centers along the Texas coast, shutting more than 10 percent of U.S. fuel-making capacity. Motor fuel prices rose as much as 6.8 percent, while New York oil futures slipped 0.9 percent. Harvey, the strongest storm to hit the U.S. since 2004, made landfall as a hurricane Friday, flooding cities and shutting plants able to process some 2.26 million barrels of oil a day. Pipelines were closed, potentially stranding crude in West Texas and interrupting gasoline supply. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Oil fell in New York after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized OPEC and said crude prices are “artificially Very High.” The comments came as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries and allies including Russia showed willingness to further tighten oil markets and boost prices. Oil has rallied in recent weeks as output cuts from OPEC and its allies were compounded by heightened geopolitical risks, including the possibility of renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran. Meeting in Jeddah, a committee of OPEC and other oil producers found high levels of compliance with the production curbs. Still, there’s capacity for prices to rise beyond this week’s three-year high, according to Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih, who said cooperation between producers would continue into 2019. Click Read More below for additional information.