Oil slips as dollar firms, Russia pipeline halt limits slide

Oil prices edged lower on Monday as a stronger dollar discouraged buying though losses were limited by supply concerns after Russia halted exports to Poland via a key pipeline.

Benchmark Brent crude futures were down 51 cents, or 0.6%, at $82.65 a barrel at 1303 GMT while West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded at $76.08, down by 24 cents or 0.3%.

The dollar hovered near a seven-week peak on Monday after a slew of strong U.S. economic data reinforced the view that the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates further and for longer.

A firm dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Fears of a hawkish Fed returned to the fore after data on Friday showed the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index shot up 0.6% last month after gaining 0.2% in December.

Meanwhile, Russia halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, Polish refiner PKN Orlen (PKN.WA) said on Saturday, a day after Poland said it had delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

Russian pipeline operator Transneft blamed the halt on a lack of completed paperwork for supplies for the second half of February.

Russia announced plans earlier this month to cut oil exports from its western ports by up to 25% in March versus February, exceeding its previously mooted production cuts of 5%.

Still, most analysts see a European Union ban on Russian seaborne oil imports and an international price cap having only a small impact on overall global supply.

"Russian oil output has exceeded expectations in recent months due to lax EU/US sanctions," Bank of America said in a note.

Adding some downside pressure, U.S. crude oil inventories surged to the highest level since May 2021 last week, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.

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