WTI sticks to daily recovery gains after Baker Hughes report, looks to settle near $69
- Oil rig count in the U.S. fell to 860.
- North Sea strike is expected to drag the global supply.
- Reports point to a continuous decline in Iran supply.
Crude oil prices gained traction on Friday and the West Texas Intermediate gained more than $1 on its way to close the week higher following three straight weeks with losses. At the moment, the barrel of WTI is trading at $69, adding 1.6% on a daily basis.
Earlier today, reports of U.S. sanctions continue to weigh on Iran's, the third largest producer in the OPEC, supply provided the initial boost to oil. According to Reuters, "third-party reports indicate that Iranian tanker loadings are already down by around 700,000 bpd in the first half of August relative to July, which if it holds will exceed most expectations. We expect that by Q4 the market will be dealing with either undersupply, dwindling spare capacity - or both," U.S. investment bank Jefferies reported on Friday.
The weekly report published by Baker Hughes Energy Services revealed that the number of total active oil rigs in the U.S. fell to 860 this week from 869. This weekly decline of 9 rigs marked the biggest fall in more than 2 years. Earlier this week, the crude oil inventory numbers released by the API and the EIA showed a draw of 5.17 million and 5.8 million barrels respectively.
Technical levels to consider
The immediate resistance for the WTI could be seen at $69.15 (daily high/50-DMA) ahead of $70 (psychological level) and $70.85 (Jun. 26 low). On the downside, supports are located at $67.50 (20-DMA), $66 (Aug. 22 low/psychological level) and $65.30 (Aug. 21 low).