WTI recoverts to $64 as JODI data shows drop in Saudi oil exports

• Saudi Arabia’s Crude oil drops to 6.977 million BPD in February.
• Weak PMI data from Europe weigh on the sentiment.

Although the weekly EIA data showed that crude oil inventories decreased by 1.4 million barrels for the week ending April 12, crude oil prices struggled to gather momentum and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate closed the day below the $64 mark.

Earlier today, the data published by the IHS Markit showed that the business activity in the manufacturing sector continued to contract in Germany and the eurozone, causing concerns over an economic performance weaker than initially expected in the euro area. The risk-off atmosphere weighed on the demand for commodities and pushed the WTI lower to $63.50 area.

However, with the  Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) reporting that Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in February dropped to 6.977 million provided a modest boost and helped the WTI retrace its daily fall.

There won’t be any data releases that could impact crude oil’s trading action in the remainder of the week and the WTI is likely to continue to fluctuate in its two-week-old $63.50 – $64.50 range.

Technical levels