Now, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil market began to recover since Tuesday, holding at $74 per barrel compared to the lowest level of $71.45 this week.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) warned this week that the United States (US) is showing a significant slowdown in the growth rate of crude oil production after reaching a record production in 2023.
According to the EIA, the US is poised to see overall crude oil production grow by an average of 160,000 barrels per day in 2024 compared to last year.
The EIA reported that US crude oil inventories rose by 5.521 million barrels in early February, well above the target of 1.895 million barrels. Crude oil stocks rose by an additional 1.234 million barrels in the previous week.
In addition, geopolitical risk remains the main 'character' to support crude oil prices when there is a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, the unrest in the Red Sea between the Houthi group and the US remains hot with various attacks.
This week, the Houthis fired on two commercial ships sailing in the Suez Canal, keeping the conflict at bay.
Looking technically, the US WTI crude oil market is still experiencing difficult movement at the $74.00 level since yesterday after falling to the lowest on Monday.
Currently, price movement remains limited this week according to the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) which is near the $75.00 level.
