Early Friday in Asia, Reuters came out with the news suggesting that the oil producers from the Persian Gulf are gradually restoring work after fears of hurricane Sally pushed them off the work for consecutive five days. The news also cites the recent increase in Saudi exports as a reason for the oil price weakness.
Key quotes
U.S. offshore drillers and exporters began a clearup on Thursday after Hurricane Sally weakened to a depression and started rebooting idle Gulf of Mexico rigs after closing the down for five days.
Crews were flown back to at least 30 offshore oil and gas platforms. Equinor and Chevron Corporation began returning staff to platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, following Murphy Oil Corporation’s restart this week.
In Saudi Arabia exports rose in July to 5.73 million barrels per day (bpd) from a record low the previous month, official data showed on Thursday.
Market implications
Although the news is mostly priced, WTI buyers are struggling above $41.00 by the press time.
Read: WTI Price Analysis: 200-bar SMA guards immediate upside beyond $41.00