U.S. crude oil futures settled higher on Monday as the refinery activity slowly resumed on the Gulf Coast. Two major pipelines were set to start up on Monday after certain divisions in Texas were shut by the impact of storm Harvey.
WTI Crude oil rose 0.41% to $47.48 as of 8:00 GMT, Brent crude oil dropped -0.40% to trade at $52.13.
According to analysts – it could take months before the U.S. petroleum industry fully recovers from Hurricane Harvey. About 5.5% of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s oil production, or 96,000 barrels of daily output, remained shut down.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is due to release its weekly oil data later on today.
Technical Outlook
Short Term
The 4H intraday chart has formed a “Channel” pattern. The channel has been broken as prices trade above the channel as seen in the chart.
Crude oil prices hit the trend line several times and finally broke the $47.50 level. Currently, prices are likely to retest $47 as well as the 50-day moving average and an uptrend is expected towards $48-$49. A break below $47 could lead towards $46-45.