WTI Oil remains bid at 8-month high, ignores Baker Hughes data

• Oil remains bid at 8-month high of $53.78
• Baker Hughes data showed US drillers add oil rigs for the first week in four, but cut rigs for a third month in a row

Oil has hardly moved following the release of the Baker Hughes weekly oil inventory report.

At the time of writing, the front month WTI contract is trading at $53.78; up 2 percent on the day. Prices hit a high of $53.92 earlier today.

Baker Hughes data released a few minutes ago showed the number of operational rigs in the US rose to 737 this week vs. 736 last week. The minor uptick has gone unnoticed as investors continue to cheer the increased odds of the global output cut deal extension beyond March 2018.

Saudi Arabia and Russia have declared support for extending a global deal to cut oil supplies for another nine months. It is also being reported that  Chevron and Exxon both missing their production guidance for the third quarter also strengthened bid tone in oil prices.

WTI Oil Technical Levels

A break above $54.00 (psychological level) would open up upside towards $54.94 (Feb high) and $55.24 (2017 high). On the downside, breach of support at $52.86 (Sep high) could yield a sharp pullback to $51.914 (previous day's low) and $51.55 (Oct 24 low).