- The weak outlook for demand continues to weigh on crude prices.
- Most of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains closed due to Hurricane Ida.
Crude oil prices continued to push lower for the third consecutive trading day on Tuesday with the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settling at $ 68.35, losing 0.75% on the day.
WTI remains defensive despite Hurricane Ida
Following the disappointing August US employment report, investors remain concerned about a volatile recovery in energy demand. Although data from China revealed that exports rose 25.6% annually in August, compared to the market’s expectation of 17.1%, oil struggled to attract investors on Tuesday.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco announced on Sunday that it lowered its official selling price (OSP) of all grades of crude to the Asian refinery in October, which weighed even more on oil prices.
Meanwhile, the strength of the broad-based USD also appears to be having a negative impact on the WTI. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, is currently up 0.3% on the day at 92.50.
On the other hand, the latest Reuters reports show that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico is down more than 80% due to Hurricane Ida, which could be helping WTI limit its losses for the time being.
On Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) will release weekly crude oil stock data ahead of the US Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Oil Status Report on Thursday.
Technical levels
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