WTI eases from tops near $70.00, focus on Ida
- WTI fades the initial spike to the vicinity of $70.00.
- Hurricane Ida weakens after landfalling in Louisiana.
- OPEC+ expected to keep its output policy as planned.
Prices of the barrel of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) now return to the negative territory following the failed attempt to re-test the $70.00 mark earlier in the session.
WTI keeps targeting $70.00, looks to OPEC+ gathering
The WTI now loses some ground and reverses both Friday’s uptick and Monday’s bull run to the proximity of the key $70.00 mark.
In fact, concerns over potential supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico due to the pass the Hurricane Ida motivated prices to edge higher, just to give away those gains soon afterwards and in response to the OPEC+ announcement.
Indeed, news around crude oil notes that the OPEC+ keeps intact its plan to increase oil production by 400 kbpd staring in September. The cartel is due to meet on September 1.
In the weekly docket, the API and the EIA will publish their reports on US crude oil inventories on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, ahead of Friday’s oil rig count figures from driller Baker Hughes.
On the latter, another weekly uptick saw US oil rig count increasing by 5 to the week ended on August 20th, taking the total active US oil rigs to 410, the highest level since early April 2020.
WTI significant levels
At the moment the barrel of WTI is losing 0.64% at $68.21 and a breach of $67.32 (20-day SMA) would aim for $65.17 (weekly low Aug.9) and then $61.76 (monthly low Aug.23). On the upside, the next hurdle is located at $69.60 (high Aug.30) followed by $70.67 (55-day SMA) and finally $74.21 (high Jul.30).