WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Friday as the dollar continued to gain on expectations of a more hawkish Fed.
Brent crude futures for January delivery fell over 1 percent to $82.01 a barrel while WTI crude futures for December settlement were down 1.3 percent at $80.50.
Both benchmark crude contracts were poised to end the week lower, hurt by a dollar, which hovered near a 16-month high amid bets for earlier Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
Investors started pricing in two rate hikes next year - a first rate increase by July and a high likelihood of another by November.
Traders also weighed global energy demand and supply prospects after OPEC lowered its world oil demand forecast for 2021, citing weaker demand in major consumers China and India, and an expected hit from high energy prices.
To cool rising energy prices, U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing moves including a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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