WTI crude oil justifies OPEC+ decision, US Dollar’s retreat to refresh four-month high near $83.00

WTI crude oil clings to mild gains around $82.90 as it prints a three-day uptrend while refreshing a four-month high amid early Monday in Asia. In doing so, the black gold justifies the previous week’s price-positive announcements from Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as the risk-on mood.

That said, the Reuters unveiled OPEC+ decision while saying, “An OPEC+ ministerial panel which met on Friday made no changes to the group's current oil output policy.” The news also mentioned Saudi Arabian statements suggesting an extension of a voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to the end of September.

On the same line were statements from Russia as it pledged to cut the Oil exports by 300,000 bpd in September. Additionally, a drone attack on the Russian warship by a Ukrainian naval drone on Russia's Black Sea navy base at Novorossiysk also propels the energy benchmark.

Furthermore, China’s readiness for further stimulus, backed by the latest fears emanating from Typhoon Doksuri, also provides a tailwind to the WTI crude oil price.

Elsewhere, a pullback in the US Dollar Index (DXY) after a three-week uptrend adds strength to the WTI crude oil prices. That said, the DXY prints a three-day downtrend near 101.95 by the press time.

It should be noted that the US Baker Hughes Rig Counts dropped in the last eight consecutive weeks to 525 at the latest, which in turn allows the Oil buyers to remain hopeful, especially amid firmer US growth numbers and easing inflation fears.

Looking ahead, this week’s inflation data from China and the US will be crucial to watch for clear directions as both these nations are the biggest customers of Oil.

Technical analysis

A three-week-old bullish channel, currently around $83.80 and $80.20, keeps the short-term WTI crude oil buyers hopeful even as the overbought RSI (14) line challenges the quote’s further upside.