WTI looks to settle above $45 following EIA and Baker Hughes data

• The total number of active oil rigs in the U.S. increase to 885.
• EIA’s weekly report shows less than expected draw in crude inventories.    
• WTI looks to close the week  flat.

The barrel of West Texas Intermediate, which slumped to its lowest level since July 2017 at $42.34 earlier this week, staged a   decisive recovery on Wednesday and went into a consolidation phase since then. While trading in a relatively tight range on Friday, the WTI stayed below the $45 during the first half of the day before rebounding modestly in the last couple of hours. As we approach the end of the week, the WTI is trading at $45.30, losing 0.15% on a daily basis.

Earlier today, the data published by the EIA showed that crude oil stocks in the U.S. decreased 500K barrels in the week ending December 21 missing the analysts’ expectation for a draw of 2.869 million barrels. Further details of the report showed that gasoline production in that period decreased to an average of 10.1 million barrels per day. Additionally, the last report of the week revealed that the total number of active oil rigs in the U.S. rose to 885 this week from 883.

With markets getting ready for the New Year break, crude oil’s price action is likely to remain subdued at least until the second half of next week.  

Technical levels