Crude Oil holds steady on the high side on Friday, WTI buoyed above $80.00

• Crude Oil is pinned into the high end to wrap up the trading week.
• WTI holding above $80.00 per barrel.
• Barrel traders pinning hopes on supply constraints looking forward.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil was pinned north of $80.00 per barrel on Friday as energy markets continued to price in expectations of a widening gap between global Crude Oil output and a forecast uptick in global Crude Oil demand through the rest of 2024 and into 2025.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently adjusted its forecasts, calling for a global Crude Oil deficit assuming the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintains its current voluntary production caps. OPEC will meet next on June 1 to discuss output levels for the second half of 2024, and investors are broadly anticipating the Crude Oil cartel to continue squeezing quotas as tight as possible as Saudi Arabia pushes to keep barrel prices bolstered.

Declines in US Crude Oil supplies sparked a bullish lean in energy markets this week after the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) both printed deeper drawdowns in Crude Oil stocks than expected after capacity demand at US refineries ticked up.

US Crude Oil supplies drawdown sparks risk bid

The API reported on Tuesday that Weekly Crude Oil Stocks for the week ended March 8 declined 5.5 million barrels, well below the forecast uptick of 400K barrels, engulfing the previous week’s buildup of 4423K barrels. The EIA’s Crude Oil Stocks Change for the same period showed a 1.536 million barrel decline, missing the forecast buidup of 1.338 million barrels and wiping out the previous week’s 1.367 million barrel increase.

WTI technical outlook

WTI is trading into the high end of a supply zone near the $80.00 handle after vaulting over the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) just above $78.00 earlier this week, and the 200-hour SMA is now turning bullish, rising above $78.50.

A near-term demand zone sits nearby to catch any downside moves near the $77.00 handle, and Crude Oil is holding steady after tapping a multi-month high this week.

WTI hourly chart