WTI slumps to $55 area, looks to snap three-day winning streak
|- Russia's Novak says cuts in August will be lower than agreed with OPEC+.
- Hurricane Dorian expected to weigh on US demand.
- Baker Hughes' oil rig count coming up next in the session.
Easing concerns over a protracted US-China trade conflict and its potential negative impact on the global energy demand outlook allowed crude oil prices to gain traction earlier this week. Moreover, the weekly crude oil stock report published by the US Energy Information Administration showed a draw of more than 10 million barrels last week and provided an additional boost.
Rally loses steam on Friday
After testing the $53 on Monday, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate rose all the way up to $56.86 but failed to preserve its bullish momentum. With the latest comments from Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and fears over the impact of Hurricane Dorian, which continues to gather strength and could hit Florida over the weekend, on the US energy demand forced the WTI to make a sharp U-turn on Friday.
Ahead of the Baker Hughes Energy Services' weekly oil rig count data, the WTI is trading near $55, erasing 2.8% on a daily basis.
RIA and Interfax news agencies today quoted Novak saying that Russia's oil output cuts in August will slightly stay below those agreed with OPEC+. "Russia is aiming for full compliance with the deal despite a slight increase in output in August," Novak further added but the selling pressure on crude oil remained intact.
Technical levels
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