- Summary:
- Crude oil price on Brent crude has stayed muted as traders await the release of the December edition of the Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data.
As traders around the world await the release of the Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) report in about 30 minutes from now, the newswires have picked up comments from the Head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol.
Birol has provided opinions of his outlook for crude oil. He says that the organization expects a growth in demand of slightly above 1 million barrels per day, but that overall growth could remain weak in comparison to previous levels. He also noted the strength of non-OPEC production, with reference to the US, Canada, Norway and Guyana.
“We see prices remain at $65 a barrel”, he said.
Brent crude is currently trading at 65.62 as at the time of writing; not very far from Birol’s 2020 oil price estimate.
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Technical Outlook for Crude Oil Price (Brent crude)
Meanwhile, Brent crude has completed a pullback from the upper border of the ascending channel that has locked price action for several months. Price is therefore close to touching the 65.50 support area, where the price intersects the horizontal price plane.
A break below the channel has to be confirmed by a double candle close on the daily chart below the channel, which then allows price to target 63.71 and possibly 60.66.
A bounce on the channel’s lower border takes Brent crude back to the upper border price level at 70.58, but only if the price move is able to prevail against the 66.96 resistance level (26 June and 12 July 2019 previous highs).