Crude oil squeezing higher with focus on US-China talks

A trade deal between the US and China, however, is likely to slow but unlikely to reverse the deterioration seen recently in forward-looking economic data from the US to Europe and China. On that basis the upside at this stage may be limited to the upper area of the mentioned consolidation area for Brent at $64/b and WTI at $55/b. 

Another reason why the bulls may need to be patient can be seen in the developments of the forward curve and the open interest in the two major oil contracts of WTI and Brent. A rally driven by fundamentals, such as the outlook for a tightening, would normally trigger a flattening of the forward curve, as the contango – the prompt months discount to deferred – begins to narrow.

As per the chart below we find that the six months spread between February (CLG9) and August (CLQ9) has hardly moved since December. Hedge funds would normally during a rally cut short positions while adding fresh longs. However, since the December 24 low the open interest in WTI has only risen by 61k lots while in Brent it has only risen by 36k lots. This could indicate that the rally has been short covering more than fresh longs entering the market. 

Please note that due to the US government shutdown the CFTC has not issued any Commitments of Traders reports since the week of December 18. The COT report provides an important weekly insight into the size and direction of positions held by hedge funds across key futures markets from currencies to bonds and not least commodities. 

Later today at the usual time of 15:30 GMT the EIA will publish its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The recent trend towards falling crude stocks and a rapid build in products look set to continue if API’s data and surveys are correct.