WTI crude on the back foot
WTI crude is down 82-cents to $58.20 as the post-Iran slide continues. You can chalk up some of the decline to a sell-the-fact trade on the weekend. There was the risk of an escalation in US-Iran fighting on the weekend but the market shrugged off rocket attacks in Iraq.
Technically, that outside reversal to $65 remains the dominant feature on the chart and there is no real support until the double bottom near $55.
On the news front, Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said OPEC will continue to do what's necessary to stabilize oil prices.
"As tension remains high in our region, Saudi Arabia will continue to do all it can do to ensure stable oil markets," he said.
"We would like to have a stable oil market, sustainable growth in terms of demand, sustainable growth in terms of supply," he said, adding that both high and low prices were undesirable. "The worst thing is to have low oil prices that permanently damage the industry."
He said production is at 9.744 million barrels per day in January and would stay at the same level in February.
