WTI clings to recovery gains a little below $54 ahead of API
- EIA cuts 2019 and 2020 demand forecasts.
- OPEC in its monthly report says that output in January fell by nearly 800K barrels per day.
- Coming up: Weekly API report from the U.S.
The barrel of West Texas Intermediate lost 4.8% last week as crude oil struggled to find demand amid concerns over the potential negative impact of the global economic slowdown on the oil demand. After staying relatively steady on Monday, the barrel of WTI gained traction on Tuesday and recorded decisive gains after the monthly OPEC report showed a higher than expected reduction in the output and revived hopes of the additional cuts helping the market find balance in the near term.
In its monthly publication, OPEC reported that the oil output in January fell nearly by 800,000 barrels per day to 30.81 million bpd. "Some recent positive developments could support the global economy at its current level, including the recovery in oil prices, possible progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations and less-ambitious monetary tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve," OPEC explained (source: Reuters).
Although OPEC headlines allowed the WTI to climb to the $54 area, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's monthly report painted a gloomy picture regarding the demand outlook and caused the coımmodity to erase a small part of its daily gains. As of writing, the WTI was up 1.95% on the day at $53.78. The EIA said that it cut both the 2019 and 2020 global demand growth forecast by 50,000 barrels per day to 1.49 million bpd and 1ç.48 million bpd, respectively.