WTI in a tight range around $46.00

Crude oil prices are trying to extend the bounce off recent lows, lifting the barrel of West Texas Intermediate to the $46.00 neighbourhood from last week’s vicinity of the $45.00 handle.

WTI struggling post oil rig count

Prices for the WTI are trading within a tight range at the beginning of the week around the $46.00 mark, struggling to gather extra steam after driller Baker Hughes reported on Friday another rise in US oil rig count.

This time, US active oil rigs increased by 8 to 741 during the week ended on June 2. It is worth mentioning that US drilling activity has been increasing uninterruptedly since the week ended on January 13

Crude oil prices remain under pressure as traders continue to weigh the increasing US drilling activity vs. the ongoing OPEC deal to cut oil output. In addition, the effectiveness of the recently extended OPEC deal faces rising oil production from Libya and Nigeria, which are not members of the agreement.

Looking ahead, the FOMC meeting will keep the focus on the buck, seconded by weekly reports on crude supplies by the API (Tuesday) and the EIA (Wednesday). In addition the OPEC will publish its monthly report tomorrow.

WTI levels to consider

At the moment the barrel of WTI is up 0.26% at $45.95 and a breakout of $46.91 (61.8% Fibo of the May rally) would target $48.40 (high Jun.6) en route to $48.62 (20-day sma). On the flip side, the next down barrier is located at $45.70 (76.4% Fibo of the May rally) seconded by $44.88 (hourly low May 5) and finally $43.76 (2017 low May 5).