Oil Slips Below $44, Heads For Weekly Drop On Demand Concerns

Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 41 cents, or 0.9%, to $43.66 by 1340 GMT, heading for a 3% drop this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped 41 cents, or 1%, to $40.96, set for its first weekly drop in five.

“The bigger market picture is overall bearish sentiment that kicked off with lower gasoline demand reports on Wednesday,” said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, analyst at Rystad Energy.

Oil reversed earlier gains in reaction to the U.S. dollar gaining soon after the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report showed the unemployment rate fell to 8.4%. A strong dollar makes oil more expensive to other currency holders and tends to weigh on oil prices.

“Crude prices can’t shake off the strong dollar that emerged from a strong employment report,” said Edward Moya, analyst at brokerage OANDA.