Natural Gas, WTI Oil, Brent Oil Forecasts – Oil Rallies As Iran Attacks Saudi Arabia’s Gas Facility

Natural Gas Rebounds As Traders React To Developments In The Middle East

Natural gas made an attempt to settle below the $3.00 level but lost momentum and rebounded towards $3.10 as traders focused on the news from the Middle East.

Israel attacked the Iranian gas filed, while Iran attacked natural gas assets belonging to QatarEnergy.

In case natural gas manages to settle above $3.10, it will move towards the resistance level, which is located in the $3.25 – $3.30 range.

On the support side, a move below the $3.00 level will open the way to the test of the support at $2.75 – $2.80.

WTI Oil Tests Resistance At $97.00 – $97.50

WTI oil moved higher as traders reacted to escalation in the Middle East. Iran has recently attempted to attack gas facilities in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry noted that it had successfully intercepted drones and ballistic missiles and that there was no damage.

Today, traders also focused on the EIA report. The report indicated that crude inventories increased by +6.2 million barrels from the previous week, compared to analyst forecast of +0.4 million barrels. At current levels, crude inventories are about 1% below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Gasoline inventories decreased by -5.4 million barrels, compared to analyst consensus of -1.6 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories declined by -2.5 million barrels from the previous week.

U.S. crude oil imports increased by 772,000 bpd, averaging 7.2 million bpd. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged 6.7 million bpd.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve remained unchanged at 415.4 million barrels as the U.S. has not started to sell oil from strategic reserves.

Domestic oil production declined from 13.678 million bpd to 13.668 million bpd. From a big picture point of view, domestic oil production remains stuck near the 13.7 million bpd level.

WTI oil continues its attempts to settle above the resistance at $97.00 – $97.50. If WTI oil manages to settle above the $97.50 level, it will move towards the psychologically important $100 level. A move above $100 will push WTI oil towards the resistance at $103.50 – $104.00.

Brent Oil Rallies As Iran Attacks Energy-Related Targets In The Gulf

Brent oil tested new highs as traders bet that the situation in the Middle East will get worse before it gets better.

Recent attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure may serve as a significant bullish catalyst for oil markets. In case these attacks continue, Iran will target oil and gas facilities in Gulf countries.  Any serious damage to oil-producing facilities will push oil prices towards new highs.

At this point, it is clear that the conflict will not end soon. Meanwhile, Gulf countries are trying to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. According to recent reports, Suaid Arabia managed to export 4.19 million bpd through the Red Sea port of Yanbu in recent days. Before the war, Saudi Arabia exported 7 million bpd.

From the technical point of view, Brent oil moved towards the resistance level at $108.50 – $109.00. In case Brent oil settles above the $109.00 level, it will head towards the next resistance, which is located in the $118.50 – $119.00 range. A move above the $119.00 level will signal that the market is in a state of panic and is trying to prepare for a $150 oil.

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