WTI upside faces resistance near $46.00, oil rig count eyed

Crude oil prices are now trading almost unchanged at the end of the week, now taking the barrel of West Texas Intermediate to the $45.60 region.

WTI attention to Baker Hughes

Prices for the barrel of WTI are struggling to revert two consecutive daily pullbacks today, although the underlying note remains bearish and retreating for the third week in a row following pre-OPEC meeting tops around the $52.00 mark in late May.

Traders continue to scale back crude-long positions at the end of the week, with WTI almost fully retracing the May rally. At the same time, the door stays open for a test of YTD lows near $43.70 (May 5) in case the selling bias gathers further steam.

On the broader picture, crude oil prices keep looking to recent tensions in the Middle East between Qatar and some of its Arab peers, the effectiveness of the OPEC dal to cut the oil output and rising US oil production.

Later in the NA session, driller Baker Hughes will publish its weekly report on US oil rig count, which has been increasing uninterruptedly since mid-January.

WTI levels to consider

At the moment the barrel of WTI is up 0.07% at $45.66 and a breakout of $46.18 (high Jun.8) would target $46.91 (61.8% Fibo of the May rally) en route to $48.40 (high Jun.6). On the flip side, the next down barrier is located at $45.20 (low Jun.8) seconded by $44.88 (hourly low May 5) and finally $43.76 (2017 low May 5).