Global Oil & Gas: Oil Unchanged as Market Struggles for Direction

Oil narrowly held onto a four-day winning streak as investors weighed a mixed supply-and-demand outlook.

West Texas Intermediate settled unchanged near $78 a barrel, erasing an equities-led morning rally. The US benchmark has struggled for direction — crossing above its 200-day moving average just one week after breaching it on the way down. Prices earlier tested the 13-day moving average, another key resistance level, before retreating. 

While oil demand is healthy, according to the International Energy Agency, the market will not be as tight as expected this quarter. Increased crude output from the US and Brazil are offsetting strong consumption from China, the agency said in a report Tuesday. At the same time, OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia is keeping its output at the lowest level in years, despite the cartel’s own bullish forecasts, and Russia’s waterborne crude flows have eased, too.

Investors are now waiting for the Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on Wednesday, which will include two weeks of supply-and-demand data.