Oil weakened by a perked up dollar. The strength of the dollar favors a decline in oil prices after the highest levels in more than two years reached on Wednesday in reaction to the sharp drop in crude inventories in the United States, even if the strength of demand limits the decline.

Oil prices were down Thursday during US trading, weighed down by a rally in the greenback after a two-day Fed meeting. Around 3:45 p.m. GMT (5:45 p.m. in Paris), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in August was worth 73.05 dollars in London, down 1.80% from the previous day's close. In New York, the barrel of WTI for the month of July dropped at the same time 1.57%, to 71.02 dollars.

A meeting of the American Federal Reserve on Tuesday and Wednesday paving the way for two hikes in key rates before the end of 2023, where it did not envisage an increase before 2024 so far. A stricter monetary policy makes the dollar more attractive and therefore more expensive the raw materials being exchanged for greenbacks.