Oil prices declined on Monday, weighed by expectations that the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates higher, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dropped 64 cents, or 0.84 percent, to settle at 75.68 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery lost 71 cents, or 0.85 percent, to close at 82.45 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"Traders remain worried about more rate hikes from the Fed," as "higher interest rates may put additional pressure on demand for oil," Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire, said on Monday.
For the week ending Friday, the U.S. crude benchmark fell 0.3 percent, while Brent increased 0.2 percent, based on the front-month contracts.