The WTI crude futures May '17 gained just 1.24% for the week, closing at $52.89 per barrel on Thursday, while the Brent oil futures June '17 was up only 0.72% for the week to close at $55.64 per barrel, despite a bullish EIA weekly report. Traders turned quickly bearish after a Reuters report on Wednesday said that storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, the largest oil storage facility in the world, may be near the capacity at which operational efficiency starts to be compromised. Technically, the WTI crude price was rejected at $53.96 per barrel, or the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement level, and could pull back further to retest the trendline support at about the $50 level.
Crude oil prices began to move higher on Monday, following a Reuters report saying that Libya's Sharara oilfield was shut on Sunday after a group blocked a pipeline linking it to an oil terminal. Reuters also reported on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has been pushing OPEC and non-OPEC members to extend production cuts beyond June.
Goldman Sachs seems to be all over the place with its crude price forecasts, as they sent out a research note on Wednesday that the firm anticipates a return to long-term oil price stability at $50 per barrel, according to CNBC. Last week, Goldman said in a research note that with global demand exceeding supply, they are "constructive" on oil prices, at least in the short term. The firm then said, "We project WTI will increase from $50/bbl to $57.50/bbl by mid-year and average of $55/bbl in the second half of 2017", according to
Barrons.
The EIA weekly U.S. oil inventory report on Wednesday showed that domestic crude supplies decreased by 2.17 million barrels to 535.38 million barrels, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in the week ending April 7, compared to the S&P Global Platts forecast for a build of 0.125 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute, or API, inventory data on Tuesday showed a U.S. crude inventory decline of 1.3 million barrels.
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