WTI steadies above $52, looks to snap three-day losing streak

• Oil producers voice willingness to balance the oil market.
• Lack of headlines surrounding US-China trade conflict supports oil's recovery.
• China reports a wider-than-expected trade surplus in July.

The selling pressure surrounding crude oil eased a little on Thursday and allowed the barrel of West Texas Intermediate to erase a small portion of this week's losses. After dropping to its lowest level since early January at $50.50, the WTI rose toward the $53 handle but met resistance there. As of writing, the black gold was posting small daily gains at $52.30.

The data from China on Thursday showed that the trade surplus in July came in at $45.06 billion to beat the market expectation of $40 billion and eased concerns over a weak demand outlook. Additionally, the lack of fresh headlines surrounding the US-China trade conflict paved the way for crude oil to stage a technical correction.

Major producers commit to keeping oil market in balance

Earlier in the day, an official for Saudi Arabia's oil ministry argued that recent concerns about oil demand growth were overplayed. "Oil market fundamentals are good, especially on the supply side due to the strong commitment of OPEC+ with supply cuts and the lower-than-expected US output growth outlook," the official said.

Similarly, the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said that the UAE will support actions to balance the oil market and added that they were confident that their OPEC and non-OPEC partners will take similar measures, providing support to crude oil rebound.

Technical levels to watch for