Investing.com - Oil prices rallied again in North America trade on Thursday, one day after soaring 8% on the back of a broadly weaker U.S. dollar and amid ongoing rumors about a potential deal between Russia and OPEC to cut a global supply glut.
Crude oil for delivery in March on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped $1.22, or 3.78%, to $33.50 a barrel by 14:35GMT, or 9:35AM ET. A day earlier, New York-traded oil futures surged $2.40, or 8.03%.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery rose 63 cents, or 1.8%, to $35.67 a barrel, after soaring $2.32, or 7.09%, on Wednesday.
The dollar index tumbled 0.85% to 96.43, a level not seen since October 23, on speculation the Federal Reserve might opt to not raise interest rates at all this year due to slowing U.S. growth and turmoil in global financial markets.
Market participants no longer expect another rate hike this year, while the Fed, from its forecasts, is anticipating four rate rises in 2016.
Meanwhile, speculation continued to swirl over the likelihood of an emergency OPEC meeting and a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC countries to cut production.
Global crude production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil and after a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production in order to defend market share.
Oversupply issues will be exacerbated further as Iranian exports return to the global oil market. Tehran said this week that it planned to increase crude exports to 2.3 million barrels per day for its fiscal year, starting March 21.
Brent's premium to the West Texas Intermediate crude contract stood at $2.17, compared to a gap of $2.76 by close of trade on Wednesday.