The March WTI contract expires tomorrow, so all the volume has gone to the April contract but it's notable that the March contract is going out at three-month high. It's up $0.50 today on very low volume at $79.69.
The strong finish could speak to a tighter physical market than pricing looks. Product inventories have been tightening in the US and that could be putting a call on physical crude deliveries ahead of driving season.
Looking out the April contract, it slumped earlier today to $77.63 but has bounced back to $78.51. Obviously, the $80 level is what everyone is watching but you could see stops above $79.11 and $79.33.
I wouldn't take too much from today's oil price action but keep in mind that the back half of February along with early March are an extremely strong seasonal period for crude.
