WTI eases below $52 as Iraqi supply worries fade

Crude oil prices lost their bullish momentum in the last couple of hours with the barrel of West Texas Intermediate falling to a fresh session low at $51.77. As of writing, the barrel of WTI was trading $51.95, still up 1.1% on the day.

Earlier in the day, the robust macroeconomic data from China, the world's biggest oil importer, fueled the upsurge witnessed in crude oil prices. The PPI in China increased to 6.9% on a yearly basis, beating the market estimate of 6.3% while the CPI eased to 1.6% from 1.8%. Commenting on the data, "what has helped risk appetite this morning is that the Chinese inflation data suggests the world’s second-biggest economy is doing much better than people expected this time a year ago for 2017,” Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets, told Reuters. 

Moreover, on Sunday, amid escalating tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), the government launched a military operation in Kirkuk, disrupting 350,000 barrels of daily production. However, recent developments suggested that the production would restart soon as the military was about to take control of the region, allowing crude oil to go into a consolidation.

• WTI Crude Oil: Oil rises 2% amid Iraq Turmoil
• Senior Iraqi OilMin Official: ‘Very short time’ before Iraqi forces regain control of Kirkuk

Technical outlook

The initial hurdle for the barrel of WTI aligns at $52 (psychological level) ahead of $52.85 (Sep. 28 high) and $53.76 (Apr. 12 high). On the downside, supports could be seen at $50.70 (Oct. 13 low), $50 (psychological level) and $49.15 (Oct. 9 low).