WTI Price Analysis: Crude oil challenging $80.00 a barrel

Russia announced it might cut oil output early in January.
US markets are due to close earlier on Friday amid the Christmas holidays.
WTI retreated modestly after reaching a fresh monthly high.

FXStreet Team FXStreet

Crude oil prices are up on Friday, with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) barrel nearing $80.00. Oil surges despite the soft tone of equities and US Dollar strength, helped by news coming from Russia, as Deputy PM Alexander Novak said that, due to the price cap, gas flows might be diverted from the EU to Asia. Additionally, he noted that Russia may cut oil output by 5%-7% in early 2023 as a response to price caps on crude and refined derivatives. The cuts could reach 500,000-700,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Also, Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, hit the wires and said that Washington is carrying out a "proxy war" against Moscow, adding that the hazard of a clash between Russia and the US is high.

It is worth adding that US markets are due to close early this Friday ahead of the Christmas celebration, meaning volatility will likely remain limited throughout the rest of the day.

WTI levels to watch

WTI touched $80.00 before shedding some cents but is biased higher according to technical readings in the daily chart. It is trading at its highest since December 5, recovering from a multi-month low of $70.08. December's monthly high was $83.33, a potential bullish target for next week. Should the black gold break beyond it, a rally towards $85.00 is on the table. Near-term dips will likely meet buyers at around $78.70, with the next support level at $78.15.

WTI US OIL

Overview
Today last price	79.66
Today Daily Change	1.53
Today Daily Change %	1.96
Today daily open	78.13

Trends
Daily SMA20	76.36
Daily SMA50	81.63
Daily SMA100	84.39
Daily SMA200	94.6

Levels
Previous Daily High	79.85
Previous Daily Low	77.02
Previous Weekly High	77.83
Previous Weekly Low	70.45
Previous Monthly High	92.92
Previous Monthly Low	73.66
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	78.1
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	78.77
Daily Pivot Point S1	76.82
Daily Pivot Point S2	75.5
Daily Pivot Point S3	73.98
Daily Pivot Point R1	79.65
Daily Pivot Point R2	81.17
Daily Pivot Point R3	82.48

Author

FXStreet Team

FXStreet

Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.

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