Oil is rising, supported by fears of a reduction in Russian supplies

Oil prices extended their gains for the second consecutive session on Friday, as the impact of expectations of lower exports from Russia outweighed the increase in inventories in the United States.

By 0215 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 61 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $82.82 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 63 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $76.02 a barrel.

The two benchmarks ended Thursday’s trading up about 2 percent, supported by Russia’s plans to cut oil exports from its western ports by up to 25 percent in March, which exceeds its announced production cut by 500,000 barrels per day.

During the week, oil prices fell slightly, after declining by nearly four percent in the past week, due to fears that raising interest rates may strengthen the dollar, as well as the increase in US crude inventories for the ninth week in a row.

The rise of the dollar increases commodity prices denominated in the greenback for holders of other currencies.