WTI pulls away from daily highs, still up more than 4% above $32
- Russian oil producers will meet next week to discuss production prospects.
- Reuters poll shows experts see WTI averaging $30.37 in Q2.
- Coming up: Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count.
Crude oil capitalized on the improving market sentiment on Friday and rose to a daily high of $33.84 before losing its traction during the American session. Latest headlines surrounding the coronavirus outbreak caused the risk rally to lose momentum and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was last seen trading at $32.40, adding 4.7% on a daily basis.
Risk sentiment continues to affect crude oil prices
With the number of confirmed infections in Spain surging to 4,209 from 3,004 on Friday, Spain has declared a state of emergency as of Saturday. Moreover, Brazilian President Bolsonaro has tested for COVID-19 and Austria has announced flight bans to France, Spain and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Russian Energy Minister Novak announced that Russian oil producers will meet next week to discuss production prospects and added that crude oil prices could increase to $40-$45 range in the second half of the year.
However, a recently conducted poll by Reuters revealed that experts were expecting the barrel of Brent to average $39.05 in the third quarter and $44.08 in the fourth quarter. Further details of the survey showed that the barrel of WTI was seen averaging $30.37 and $34.30 in the second and the third quarter, respectively.
The last data of the week will be Baker Hughes' weekly US Oil Rig Count.
Technical levels to watch for