That is resulting in a decent jump in oil prices on the session, with WTI crude moving up by nearly 2% to around $71.60 currently. At the same time, Russia is also saying that it will reduce oil supply by 500k bpd in August and that will keep a lid on supply conditions even as the oil market is expected to tighten heading into the summer.
In the bigger picture though, oil still has a bit of a troubling outlook with regards to the technicals. At each time there is good news from the fundamental side, it has been quickly brushed aside and there hasn’t been enough impetus to get above the 100-day moving average (red line).
I don’t envisage this bit of news as being a catalyst for that as well. But at least there is some decent support at around $67 and just below that, which includes the 200-week moving average – now seen at $67.55. The latter in particular has come to the defense of oil prices since March and remains a key technical support level to watch.
Update: Something worth noting is that Russia is referring to their bit as being oil exports and not oil output/production. I would think that they mean the same thing but we’ll see if they actually do mean it that way.