Oil price stable following Fed interest rate hike
The price of oil was stable following the expected US Federal Reserve decision to raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.
Fed chair Janet Yellen said: “I have been surprised by the further downward movement in oil prices. Oil prices need to stabilise for inflation to move up.”
The oil price has been falling since Saudi Arabia led oil cartel Opec decided to not impose a ceiling in production, keeping the market saturated with oil.
The supply glut is now widely expected to run on well into 2016, with various analysts moving their forecasts for the oil price down to $30 per barrel and below.
Markets are also expecting a step up in Iranian production once sanctions on the country are lifted next year.
There has so far been no real drop in production in US shale and Russian output.
Earlier this week, US politicians started the process of lifting a 40-year ban on crude oil exports.