WTI hits weekly lows below $ 45.00 after a large EIA inventory build.

• WTI Crude Oil futures fell into negative territory and even briefly below $ 45.00 in the wake of a bearish weekly EIA report.
• Crude oil traders are now refocusing on broader risk appetite ahead of the key risk events looming this week.

Crude oil WTI fell from above $ 46.00 to new weekly lows below $ 45.00 on the back of a bearish weekly EIA crude oil inventory report. Since then, the US benchmark for crude has rebounded from the worst levels at around $ 45.50, but is still trading with losses of around 0.2% or 10 cents on the day.

Bearish EIA Report

Crude oil prices were affected by a much larger than expected buildup of headlines in the EIA crude oil inventory data. Crude stocks rose 15,189 million barrels last week against expectations of a 1,424 million drop. This brought total US crude oil inventories to 503.2 million barrels, roughly 11% above the five-year average. Gasoline and distillates inventories also posted much higher than expected accumulations of 5,222M (exp. 1,414M) and 4,222M (exp. 2,271M) respectively, while US production remained stable at 11.1M barrels per day.

WTI continues to trade within recent ranges

Although near the week’s lows, WTI continues to trade largely within this month’s ranges, a range capped by $ 46.50 to the upside and supported by $ 43.50 to the downside.

However, when looking at the WTI on a shorter time horizon, it appears to have formed something of a downtrend channel, with the downtrend linking the December 4, 7, and 9 highs acting as resistance and the downtrend. than the lows of December 7, 8 and 9 acting as support.

4 hour chart