WTI hits 1-week tops above $ 58 mark

• Unperturbed by rising US output?
• A drop in US crude inventories underpins.

 WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) is seen consolidating the renewed uptick to fresh weekly tops reached at $ 58.19, as the bulls appear to face exhaustion after three back-to-back sessions of gains.

WTI: Will it hold the 58 handle?

The barrel of WTI paused its upbeat momentum and trades modestly flat, receding below the $ 58 mark, as markets remain cautious amid rising US crude output levels, which is fast approaching 10 million barrels per day, a level only surpassed by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Moreover, Iraqi Oil Ministry plans to increase production from Majnoon oilfield to more than 400,000 bpd "during next years", also keep the bulls on the back foot while markets digest the latest report released by INEOS, citing that the repair work on Forties pipeline progressing well, will be completed over Christmas.

The black gold rallied to fresh one-week tops earlier today, as traders continued to cheer the drawdown reported in the EIA US crude stockpiles data released a day before. The EIA report showed a 6.5 million-barrel fall in the US crude inventories in the week to Dec. 15 to 436 million barrels, the lowest level since October 2015.

At the time of writing, WTI trades -0.25% lower at $ 57.95 while Brent drops -0.40% t0 $ 64.30.

WTI Technical Levels

The resistances are aligned at $58.50 (psychological levels) ahead of $59 (Nov 24 high) and $59.85 (April 2015 tops). On the downside, supports are located at $57 (zero figure), $56.39 (50-DMA) and $55.82 (Dec 7 low).”