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Crude Oil Sees Strong Gains On The Week With Fading Ceasefire Hopes

COMMODITIES
  • Crude prices made gains during US hours, with WTI up strongly on the week and retuning to levels last seen in late-January. WTI continues to find support from diminishing hope of any near-term ceasefire deal in Gaza.
  • The WSJ is reporting that Venezuela has moved military hardware to its border with Guyana as a row over a disputed, oil-rich province escalates.
  • US oil rigs were unchanged on the week at 499, according to Baker Hughes, but oil output from the Permian basin in West Texas and New Mexico is set to reach a fresh record this year: US pipeline operator Plains said.
  • OPEC+ members bound to production targets overshot by 350k b/d, taking total output to 34.67m b/d, according to Argus estimates.
  • WTI is +0.5% at $76.62 having earlier cleared resistance at $76.95 (Feb 1 high) to open a key resistance at $79.29 (Jan 29 high).
  • Brent is +0.5% at $82.02 as it takes a small step closer to key resistance at $84.17 (Jan 29 high).
  • Gold is -0.5% at $2024.44, having slipped ahead of US CPI revisions and then holding losses despite a weaker USD index on the day. It remains above support at $2015.0 (Feb 5 low).
  • US natural gas prices are under pressure, with the Henry Hub front month extending its most recent downtrend starting Jan. 26 for lowest levels since Sep. 2020. Furthering the decline was the smaller than normal storage draw yesterday, ongoing mild weather, and steady production.
  • Weekly moves: WTI +6.0%, Brent +6.0%, Gold -0.75%, US HH nat gas -11.2%, EU TTF nat gas -7.5%.

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