[themihai]

>> The Fed decision wasn't important to energy costs anyway, though.

Of course it was. Rate hiking makes the dollar more expensive for anyone buying dollars(to pay for the oil). Were they dealing with gold they would not have this issue. Not to mention if the buyer is a gold producer.

[thaumasiotes]

So what? Rates go up, dollars get more valuable, it's more expensive to buy dollars than it used to be, and each dollar buys more oil than before.

[themihai]

But only one entity prints dollars so that's the catch/unfair advantage of the U.S.

[samus]

The Fed has a huge influence of course, since they are the largest issuer and politically close to the authority that determines what a dollar is. But Dollars are also created by other banks on their balance sheets, many of them outside the US.

[thaumasiotes]

What are you saying? Does that have anything to do with the decision on interest rates? How does the interest rate decision affect the real price of oil?