Nymex crude prices have been relatively stable this morning in Asia with the March contract easing back from early highs of $97.41 to $96.74 largely tracking a small sell-off in the corresponding ICE Brent contract from $116.65 to $115.65. The US contract continues to lose ground on its UK counterpart with the Brent premium over WTI now almost $19 in recent trade. The WTI continues to be suppressed by worries of supply bottlenecks at the Cushing Oklahoma Hub, and is also influenced more by equity markets and the tensions in Euroland; whilst the Brent contract is receiving strong support from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. WTI’s focus today will be on the weekly API release this evening, with analysts currently predicting a build of around 2.4 million barrels in the crude inventories for the latest reporting week. Today’s support for WTI is seen at yesterday’s lows of $96.38 and $95.86, with resistance up towards Monday’s highs of $97.96 and $99.00.
EasyForexNews Research Team