WTI through $ 60 mark on final trading day of 2017

• Sits at mid-2015 highs.
• Bullish EIA report & weaker DXY.
• Eyes on US rigs count data.

Having reached the highest levels since June 2015 at $ 60.32 in the Asian trades, WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) consolidated briefly near the last, before easing slightly to test the $ 60 mark in the European session.

WTI: A solid end to 2017

The barrel of WTI clings to moderate gains above the key $ 60 threshold, although fails to extend the upside, as the bulls take a breather ahead of the US rigs count data due to be reported later in the NA session.

The ongoing rally in the black gold is mainly fuelled by strengthening Chinese crude oil demand and supply disruption threats, in response to the Libyan and North Sea pipeline outage reports.

Moreover, an unexpected drop in the US output levels combined with a drawdown seen in the US crude stockpiles, as reflected by the weekly EIA data, further added to the bullish momentum seen around the commodity. The EIA report showed that the US crude inventories dropped by 4.6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 22 to 431.9 million barrels. The US oil output dipped to 9.754million bpd versus 9.789million bpd previous.

Oil prices also continue to find support from persistent broad-based US dollar weakness, which remains the main driver for the markets in subdued pre-New Year trading activity. At the time of writing, WTI rises +0.47% to $ 60.10 while Brent gains +0.39% to $ 66.42.

WTI Technical Levels

The resistances are aligned at $60.31 (2-1/2 year tops) ahead of $60.50 (psychological levels) and $61.82 (June 2015 tops). On the downside, supports are located at $59.64 (5-DMA), $58.77 (10-DMA) and $57.88 (Dec 22 low).”