Oil prices are still moving in a narrow range despite OPEC+’s plan to increase output
RIYADH: On the week’s closing, oil prices deteriorated and made the first weekly drop in three weeks. The Brent crude oil price dropped to $62.95 per barrel, while still trading in the narrow range between $61 and $65 for more than three weeks.
The WTI crude oil price dropped to $59.32 per barrel but has still been trading in the narrow range between $58 and $61 for three weeks, as most of Europe and the US were partially on holidays and some investors may have positioned themselves ahead of the holidays, therefore, affecting the market in one way or the other.
The US mentioned trying to add 916,000 jobs for March, which may give traders the idea of promising demand, even though the EU is still in lockdown. That might keep the upward momentum dampened a bit but, on the other hand, it still looks bullish as global oil inventories continue to fall and Brent’s futures price curve remains backwards.
Oil prices are still moving in a narrow range, despite the OPEC+ plan to increase output, returning 2 million barrels per day (BPD) over the coming three months, despite the increasing lockdown measures.
The latest figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on April 6 2021, showed that long positions on crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange numbered 655,327 contracts, down by 20,166 contracts from the previous week (1,000 barrels for each contract). It is the fourth consecutive weekly drop in positions.
