President Trump urged OPEC to increase oil productionPresident Trump urged OPEC to increase oil production and lower prices in order to help end the war in Ukraine, threatening tariffs and sanctions if a deal is not reached. Oil prices fell in response to Trump's statements, with Brent crude dropping to $77.94 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling to $74.11 per barrel. OPEC has not officially responded to Trump's calls for increased production, and the market remains uncertain about potential outcomes. In addition, the reversal of U.S plans to impose sanctions on Colombia eased concerns about potential disruptions to oil supply from the South American nation. Also the impact of sanctions on Russian oil production may be limited, but some risk premium is justified due to the potential leverage in future negotiations.
On the technical side, the price of crude oil has found sufficient resistance on the upper band of the Bollinger bands and has since entered an aggressive bearish trend which seems to be slowing down around the $74 area. The faster 50-day moving average is still above the slower 100-day indicating that the overall bullish momentum is still in effect despite the rapid decline. On the other hand, the Stochastic oscillator is in extreme oversold levels hinting that there might probably be a bullish correction in the upcoming sessions. If this scenario plays out then the next major technical resistance area might be seen around $76 which is the 23.6% of the daily Fibonacci retracement level.
