January 05, 2025 22:53 GMT
OIL: Crude Exceeds Further Resistance Levels, Strong Start To 2025
OIL
Oil prices rose around a percent on Friday to continue the uptrend seen during the week. Better risk appetite, continued US crude drawdowns and technicals seem to have outweighed pessimism over China’s economy. The USD index fell 0.1% driven by stronger US equities, which also supported dollar-denominated crude.
- WTI rose 1.3% to $74.07/bbl to be up almost 5% last week, above resistance at $73.73 opening up $73.96. The bull trigger is at $76.41. It reached a peak of $74.35, the highest since early October.
- Brent finished last week up almost 4% after a 1.0% rise on Friday to $76.69/bbl, breaching initial resistance at $76.55 opening $79.50, key resistance. It made an intraday high of $76.73.
- Goldman Sachs estimates that “oil prices are a few dollars undervalued” currently.
- The election of Trump as the next US President has increased expectations that US oil production will rise. However, before the end of his term President Biden is likely to ban new offshore oil and gas projects covering around 625mn acres of coast, according to Bloomberg. The area includes the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico. The decision is likely to be announced today.
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