- WTI comes under some selling pressure on Friday and snaps a two-day winning streak.
- Concerns about slowing global demand exert downward pressure on the black liquid.
- Worries about supply disruptions in the Middle East should help limit deeper losses.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil prices drift lower on the last day of the week and move away from a fresh monthly peak, around the $78.75 region touched on Thursday. The commodity remains depressed through the first half of the European session and currently trades near the daily low, around mid-$77.00s.
Investors remain concerned about the worsening economic conditions across the globe, especially after Japan and the UK entered a technical recession during the fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, expectations that higher borrowing costs could hinder economic activity and dent fuel demand in the world's largest oil consumer turn out to be key factors exerting downward pressure on Oil prices.
That said, signs of tightening global supplies, due to disruptions in the Middle East, might continue to underpin the commodity and help limit any meaningful corrective decline. In fact, the Israel-Hamas war has shown no signs of de-escalation yet, while attacks on commercial vessels by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen have raised worries about trade flow through the critical Red Sea waterway.
Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that US Crude Oil inventory rose by 3.514 million barrels for the week to February 16, down sharply from a sizeable build of 12 million barrels previously. This reaffirms expectations that demand from the US refiners will improve after the recent outages and warrants caution before placing bearish bets around the black liquid.
Even from a technical perspective, Crude Oil prices have been oscillating in a familiar trading range over the past week or so. This points to indecision among traders over the next leg of a directional move. Nevertheless, the commodity remains on track to register modest weekly losses for the first time in the previous three.
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