Exxon's Tillerson: Weak Dollar Adds $25 To Oil

ALEX KENNEDY

SINGAPORE (AP) — A weakening U.S. dollar has added between $20 and $25 a barrel to the price of oil, creating a "disconnection" between the price and supply and demand levels, ExxonMobil Corp. Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said Friday.

Tillerson, who manages the world's biggest oil company, said oil demand in the U.S. has remained sluggish despite an economic recovery and a jump in crude prices to $82 last month from $32 in December.

"There's been little demand pickup as of yet," Tillerson said after a speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. "There's clearly been for some time a disconnection between the fundamentals of supply and demand and the current price for crude oil."

Tillerson said the price of oil would probably be around $55 a barrel if the dollar hadn't depreciated against the euro during the last 18 months.

"You could say oil is about $20 to $25 a barrel higher simply it's priced in dollars and there's a weak dollar," he said.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down $1.31 to $75.63 a barrel in New York morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.