Commodity Market: US Crude Oil rebounds after two days of losses, market focus sets on today’s OPEC+ meeting

Following two straight trading days of losses, futures on US West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil rebounded on Thursday due to expectations that OPEC and its allies will likely continue oil output curbs when the group meets later in the day, as new COVID-19 cases continued to surge.

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies are scheduled to meet later today to discuss options such as production roll-over and a gradual increase in output.

Since OPEC+ has revised down its oil demand growth forecast for 2021 by 300,000 barrels per day amid resurgent coronavirus infections in some parts of the globe, including Europe, some analysts expect the group to continue with supply curbs.

Additionally, yesterday the Joint Technical Committee, which advises OPEC+, made no formal recommendation.

“The most likely outcome of the … meeting is no significant changes in production,” Eurasia Group said in a report, cited by Reuters.

“The caution on display in the OPEC+ discussions signals that any decisions on tapering will likely be delayed to the May meeting,” Eurasia Group added.

At present, OPEC+ is curbing oil production by 7 million barrels per day in order to support the market and to reduce oversupply.

As of 8:52 GMT on Thursday WTI Crude Oil Futures were gaining 1.71% to trade at $60.17 per barrel, while moving within a daily range of $59.26-$60.66 per barrel. WTI Crude Oil Futures retreated 3.80% in March, which marked their first loss since October 2020.

Brent Oil Futures were gaining 1.00% on the day to trade at $63.65 per barrel, while moving within a daily range of $62.84-$64.22 per barrel. Brent Oil Futures retreated 2.14% in March, which marked their first loss since October 2020.

Daily Pivot Levels (traditional method of calculation) – WTI Crude Oil Futures

Central Pivot – $59.73
R1 – $60.60
R2 – $62.05
R3 – $62.92
R4 – $63.80

S1 – $58.28
S2 – $57.41
S3 – $55.96
S4 – $54.52

Daily Pivot Levels (traditional method of calculation) – Brent Oil Futures

Central Pivot – $63.46
R1 – $64.36
R2 – $65.70
R3 – $66.60
R4 – $67.50

S1 – $62.12
S2 – $61.22
S3 – $59.88
S4 – $58.54