Fundamentals :
Crude oil surged significantly this week from 53.33 low, overstepped 55 level slightly with 0.01 with a new record for Feb 2017. Oil futures increased nearly 1 percent on Thursday after data released by an industry group showed a shocking slump in U.S. crude stocks as imports fell. Crude inventories dropped by 884,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 17 to 512.7 million, compared with analysts' forecasts for an increase of 3.5 million barrels as American Petroleum Institute (API) data report showed on Wednesday.
OPEC and Non-OPEC producers including Russia will boost compliance with agreed oil output curbs in a bid to clear a supply glut that has weighed on prices, the group's secretary general said on Tuesday. OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo also said he was "cautiously optimistic" on the outlook for the oil market, almost two months into the group's supply cut deal with Russia and other producers. (Reuters)
However, for prices to break out of their trading ranges, the market needs to see signs that OPEC inventories are falling, said Tony Nunan, oil risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo.
Conclusion : OPEC efforts seems more fruitful and crude oil levels being stable proves so. With more compliance, we look forward for additional boosters on oil price.
Technical : The upside prevails
Trend : Bullish
Daily Pp: 54.06
Resistance levels : R1 54.76, R2 55.54, R3 56.49
Support levels : S1 53.84, S2 52.79, S3 51.90
Remark : Look forward for US crude oil inventories today at 4:00 PM GMT. Stalling above R1 level projects further attacks towards R2&R3 levels. On the other hand, closing below S2 level is needed to reverse the bullish momentum.
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