WTI plunges during the New York session, eyeing $81.00

• US crude oil benchmark (WTI) drops almost 3%, barely holding to $81.00.
• US crude oil inventories increased more than estimates, pushing oil prices lower.
• WTI bulls will need to reclaim 82.65, to remain in charge.

Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), as the US crude oil benchmark is known, is plummeting during the day, down almost 3.50%, trading at $81.16 a barrel per day during the New York session at the time of writing. 

The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported that US crude oil inventories increased by 3.291M barrels from the week ending on October 29. According to the report, US stockpiles are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of the year. 

Furthermore,  demands of the White House start to mount on the OPEC+, as US President Joe Biden says that higher prices are attributed to the cartel’s unwillingness to increase the crude oil output as required. 

Meanwhile, the  Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will host its monthly meeting on November 4. Most analysts expect the cartel to stick with the 400,000 barrel a day production unless the White House pressure is enough to force an increase of it.

WTI Price Forecast: Technical outlook

4-hour chart

WTI’s price briefly tested the October 28 low at $80.58 but jumped off almost instantaneously. The price drop was sharp enough, leaving the 50 and the 100-simple moving averages (SMA’s) above, which were functioning as dynamic support levels. However, the $80.00-$81.00 seems strong enough to hold off sellers to push the price below.

Nevertheless, a breach of the October 28 low would put the $80.00 figure to the test. On the other hand, an upside break above the 100-SMA at $82.65 would leave oil bull’s in charge as they get ready to push towards higher readings.