March 2024 WTI
The March WTI contract expires tomorrow, so all the volume has gone to the April contract but it’s notable that the March contract is going out at three-month high. It’s up $0.50 today on very low volume at $79.69.
The strong finish could speak to a tighter physical market than pricing looks. Product inventories have been tightening in the US and that could be putting a call on physical crude deliveries ahead of driving season.
Looking out the April contract, it slumped earlier today to $77.63 but has bounced back to $78.51. Obviously, the $80 level is what everyone is watching but you could see stops above $79.11 and $79.33.
CL2 daily
I wouldn’t take too much from today’s oil price action but keep in mind that the back half of February along with early March are an extremely strong seasonal period for crude.