Crude oil WTI push higher as OPEC says it has a "noble goal"

• Last week Trump criticized OPEC and Russia for keeping prices artificially high.
• OPEC says its objective is a “noble goal”, its a bigger picture than just “too high”. 

Crude oil WTI is trading at around $68.84 per barrel, up 1.17% on Monday. 

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia have signed a deal to cut production to 1.8 million barrels per day. The agreement entered into effect in January 2017 and has already been extended until the end of 2018. 

"OPEC and non-OPEC (countries) came together, they sacrificed some of their production to try and fix the imbalance in the market. So the objective of OPEC was, I would say, a noble goal to rescue the market (from) a long over-supply," said Suhail Al Mazrouei, the United Arab Emirates' minister of energy and industry and OPEC president. 

"It's a bigger picture than just looking at the price today and yesterday and saying that the price is high,” added Suhail Al Mazrouei

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump sent a tweet criticizing OPEC and saying that prices were artificially “too high” and that it was “not good.” 

"Whether his view will have a long-lasting impact on prices remains to be seen, but it is now a daily routine for oil and financial traders to start their day by rigorously checking Donald Trump's tweets," said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates.

Crude oil is trading close to its yearly highs and is being supported by a tightening supply, geopolitical tensions in the Middle-East and falling output in Venezuela. 

Crude oil levels to watch:

The trend is bullish. Support is seen at 67.20 demand level and at 66.55 swing high. On the flip side, resistances are seen at 68.91 supply level and 69.56 the year high.