WTI retakes $48.00 ahead of Fedspeak, API

The barrel of West Texas Intermediate is back around the $48.00 mark after deflating to the $47.50 region.

WTI off 2016 highs

The recovery of crude oil prices has lifted the WTI to levels last seen in October 2015 around $48.50 per barrel in early trade, although the up move run out of steam afterwards, triggering a knee-jerk to the mid-$47.00s.

Recent better tone in WTI has been fuelled by wildfires in Western Canada, disruptions in the oil output in Nigeria following militant attacks and a bullish report from Goldman Sachs. 

Next on tap in the session, the weekly report on US crude stockpiles by API is due ahead of the FOMC minutes to be published tomorrow.

WTI levels to consider

At the moment the barrel of WTI is gaining 0.09% at $48.09 with the initial hurdle at
$49.33 (high Aug.31 2015) followed by $50.92 (high Oct.9 2015) and finally $54.42 (high Feb.15 2015). On the other hand, a breach of $45.08 (20-day sma) would expose $42.50 (low Apr.26) and then $41.00 (55-day sma).