WTI struggles to hold above $58 after starting the week on a positive note

• Focus remains on headlines coming from US-China trade talks.
• Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fall to 6.67 million barrels per day in September.

Heightened hopes of the United States and China and signing the phase one of the trade deal to avoid the next tariff hike helped crude oil prices gained traction on Friday. The barrel of West Texas Intermediate gained more than 1.5% to close the week with modest gains at $57.75.

Although the WTI started the week on a positive note and climbed above the $58 mark, it struggled to preserve its momentum and is now  staging a technical correction, trading at $57.60 with a daily loss of 0.35%.  

EIA data and US-China trade talks to drive oil prices

After the United States’ Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, on Friday said that there was a very high probability that they will reach a trade deal with China, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that  Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a constructive talk on trade with   USTrade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile,  the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) on Monday reported that Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fell to 6.67 million barrels per day (bpd) in September from 6.88 in August but failed to help the WTI turn north.  

Later this week, investors will be paying close attention to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly oil market report, which last week revealed that crude oil production in the US rose to a record high of 12.8 million bpd.

Technical levels to watch for