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Oil climbs higher on expectations US stockpiles could tighten

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Oil prices rose over 1.5% in New York after Saudi Arabia signaled a reduction in in shipment to US refiners within in weeks, a move aimed at making the US reduce their stockpiles.  Oil also benefited from a Genscape report that US oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for crude declined by 8221,892 barrels in the week ending December 11th.  The over supply story is one part of the reason we have seen lower prices over the past few months.  Analysts are trying to figure out how effective last week’s OPEC and allies production cut will be next year.  Canada also contributed to tightening supplies after the December 2nd announcement that Alberta Canada mandated a 325,000 barrel per day cut in oil output.  Today, Western Canadian Select Crude is also higher by 1.7% and the Canadian dollar was firmer by 0.1% against the dollar.   West Texas crude prices have consolidated between $50.50 and $53.00 this week.

Many oil traders are also dissecting today’s IEA monthly report.  It noted there are concerns as to the stability of production in Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela; and the tanker collision last week in Norwegian waters, although modest in impact, is another reminder of the vulnerability of the system to accidents.  The potential of greater supply losses from both Iran and Venezuela could bring the number of cuts to 1.6 million barrels a day, twice as much as what was committed from the OPEC portion of the agreed upon cuts.

Price action on the West Texas Intermediate daily chart shows that since the November 29th low of $49.41, price has continued to respect the $50 level.  If we see prices continue to consolidate here and fail to make a fresh low, we could see a run towards the $54.60 level.  Key resistance may come from the $56.50 level, which could also signal the formation of a bearish Butterfly pattern.  Point D is targeted with the 141.4% Fibonacci expansion level of the X to A leg and the 161.8% Fibonacci expansion level of the X to A move.  If valid, we could see price attempt to test the $52.00 region.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Ed Moya

Ed Moya

Senior Market Analyst, The Americas at OANDA
With more than 20 years’ trading experience, Ed Moya is a senior market analyst with OANDA, producing up-to-the-minute intermarket analysis, coverage of geopolitical events, central bank policies and market reaction to corporate news. His particular expertise lies across a wide range of asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, stocks and cryptocurrencies. Over the course of his career, Ed has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages, research teams and news departments on Wall Street including Global Forex Trading, FX Solutions and Trading Advantage. Most recently he worked with TradeTheNews.com, where he provided market analysis on economic data and corporate news. Based in New York, Ed is a regular guest on several major financial television networks including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo! Finance Live, Fox Business and Sky TV. His views are trusted by the world’s most renowned global newswires including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, and he is regularly quoted in leading publications such as MSN, MarketWatch, Forbes, Breitbart, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Ed holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.
Ed Moya

@https://twitter.com/edjmoya

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