Oil takes a step back as US Trump again tells OPEC what to do

Oil markets see some fallback after WTI clips closer towards 72.00.
Rising bottoms in the oil charts see potential building for a renewed run at 75.00.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

Crude oil is seeing some fall-back from recent highs after US President Donald Trump once again lashed out at OPEC on Twitter, imploring the oil mafia to gain control of crude prices.

On the opposite side of the same blade, US sanctions against Iran, due to come into effect in November, sees the US attempting to force Iran out of global oil markets, seeing a firm bolstering effect on crude barrel costs globally as traders brace for a disruption of supply lines from the Middle East.

OPEC meets on Sunday in Algeria, but the discussion is slated to revolve around current output production levels, and making sure all participants are still on board with things as they currently are.

Saudi Arabia recently admitted that their "happy range" with oil prices is in the $70-80 per barrel range, which is unlikely to draw much mirth from the US' Trump, who is insisting that OPEC should be striving to do more to alleviate upward price pressure from oil as Iran prepares to face extreme drawdowns in global demand.

WTI levels to watch

US crude prices crept into the 71.50 region this week, but have slipped back into 70.20 after Trump demanded OPEC take down oil prices arbitrarily; long-side pressure have been on the rise, and WTI is marking in rising lows with the last major turnaround sitting near 66.80, with major resistance sitting just beneath the critical 75.00/barrel figure.

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

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