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WTI oil futures traded close to the highest level since July this morning, amid indications U.S. oil drillers are cutting back on production following a collapse in prices over the summer.

Oil futures tended to the upside on Friday morning, fostered by two bullish factors. First, the FOMC's meeting minutes released Thursday evening indicated that the Fed might only raise the level of interest rates in the USA in the coming year. Second, analysts at PIRA Energy Group announced their price forecasts for 2016 and 2017. The experts forecast much higher prices than other analysts and banks had done so far. WTI thus breached its resistance at 50.00 USD in the early morning, rising up to its resistance at 51.00 USD in the course of the day. Brent's upward potential was capped near 54.00 USD, whereas the Gasoil contract for October delivery was rather volatile as it is going to expire this Monday. The 50 USD-marker is a psychologically important level, where WTI was likely to find strong resistance. Since afternoon-trade didn't bring any fresh cues for oil markets, traders tended to take some profits from long positions ahead of the weekend. Even though the Baker Hughes rig count on Friday evening showed that the number of active US oil rigs had renewedly retreated, oil futures stayed below their highs, ending the week in the red.

ICE Gasoil contract for October delivery settled at 481.75 USD on Friday, this is +1.00 USD above Thursday's settlement. With some 53,400 deals the traded volume (front month) was on average.

The Stochastic indicator and the RSI point to an overbought situation. Up to now, there are no selling signals at the Brent and the WTI charts yet. Only the Stochastic indicator is slightly bearish. However, this indicator can be neglected today as the Gasoil contract with October delivery is going to expire in the early afternoon. There will only be fresh technical selling pressure if the lines of the Stochastic indicator sustainably cross at the Brent and the WTI chart and/or if the RSI drops back below 70%. Overall, the technical constellation can thus still be assessed as neutral for the time being. However, it is rather unstable. As soon as there are new selling signals, it could turn bearish quickly, raising selling pressure. Upward potential, however, seems to be limited as the upper Bollinger Band lies at 49.95 USD at the WTI chart.

U.S.

Nymex above average : Oil futures edged higher in electronic trading this morning. However, they only pared some of Friday evening's losses. The traded volume at NYMEX is far above average this morning. Investors are now waiting for the European financial and forex markets to open. As to important economic indicators, there are none on the agenda today.

Houston (ex-wharf indications 12-10)
380cst $243
180cst $300
MGO $508

New Orleans (ex-wharf indications 12-10)
380cst $253
180cst $304
MGO $498

Singapore (delivered indications 12-10)

Brent is lo with -$0.37. Singapore paper losing with -$0.25 for 180cst with ±$0.00 for 380cst for Oct, and for Nov 180 cst -$1.25 and 380cst with -$0.80 with MGO contracts Oct dropping with -$0.40 and in Nov with -$0.25. The cargo market is losing with 180cst +$3.36, 380cst with +$3.36 and MGO with +$1.00.

380cst $253
180cst $269
MGO $471

Fujairah (delivered indications 12-10)

380cst $260
180cst $285
MGO $611

ARA (Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp)

Indications for delivered bunkers:
380cst : $248
MGO 0.1%S: $463