Oil pares losses, Brent closes above $80

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices declined today, Jan. 20, despite a weaker dollar and after newly elected US President Donald Trump pledged to boost his country's production and exports.

Brent crude futures for March delivery fell 0.8%, or 64 cents, to $80.15 a barrel, after touching $79.42 earlier in the session.

WTI crude futures for March delivery (the most active) fell 1.30% to $76.38 a barrel, at 11:14 pm Makkah time.

There will be no settlement for WTI contracts on Monday due to the US holiday, as the country celebrates Martin Luther King Day.

The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of major currencies, fell 1.15% to 108.07 points, after touching its lowest levels in two weeks earlier in the session.

US President Trump pledged, in a speech following his inauguration, to declare a national energy emergency in order to boost his country's production and exports of fossil fuels and increase stockpiles.

Reuters reported that among Trump's first actions in the White House is likely to be the lifting of a temporary ban on issuing liquefied natural gas export permits, in a sign of more lenient regulatory conditions for the fossil fuel industry.