WTI leaps above $49 amid OPEC headlines
|Following a failed attempt to resist above $49 during the early NA session, crude oil prices once again gathered momentum and refreshed its daily high at $49.35 amid Reuters headlines.
After the initial spike, the WTI oil retreated to give back some of its gains and was down 10 cents or 0.20% at $49.20/barrel at the time of writing.
OPEC leans towards oil cut extension, but non-members need to be in - RTRS
OPEC support increases for extending oil supply into the second half of the year, but non-OPEC participation is needed, as per Reuters report. The majority of the production cut outside the OPEC came from Russia at 160K bpd. However, this number is considered to be an expected drop due to maintenance season and OPEC clearly wants more involvement in case they decide to extend the deal beyond June.
Oil seen stuck below $60 this year, despite OPEC output cuts - BBG
On the other hand, the investors continue to lose interest in as reflected by the CFTC reports. Last week the number of long positions on Brent and WTI fell by 150K. "Speculative investors have thrown in the towel, it seems. We've got record selling in the week ending March 14 and the bleeding has not stopped yet," said Carsten Fritsch, senior commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
Technical levels
Below $49 (psychological level), the barrel of WTI could find support at $48.50 (daily low) and $47.40 (Mar. 13 close). On the upside, resistances are aligned at $50 (psychological level), $50.84 (Mar. 9 high) and $51.22 (Feb. 8 low).
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