Oil Prices Decline for Fourth Consecutive Session

Oil prices fell for the fourth straight session, the longest drop since early June, driven by algorithmic selling and low "summer liquidity".

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices fell by 1.8% to settle at $77 per barrel. The decline was driven by commodity trading advisors abandoning their bullish positions, after futures crossed both the 50- and 100-day moving averages, which served as support levels.

Latest Oil Prices

WTI                                $76.96  -1.84%

BRENT CRUDE             $81.62  -0.95%

MURBAN CRUDE        $80.59  -1.61%

NATURAL GAS               $2.187  -2.84%

LOUISIANA LIGHT     $83.65  -0.33%

BONNY LIGHT            $86.00  -0.72%

OPEC BASKET             $82.77  -2.41%

MARS US                     $75.97 -1.81%

GASOLINE                    $2.414  -2.29%

However, oil has reached the oversold zone on the nine-day Relative Strength Index (RSI), indicating that a reversal may be imminent.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its estimates of weekly shifts in inventories later Tuesday, with a formal government report due the following day. Meantime, crude oil inventories nationwide have fallen over the past three weeks, reaching their lowest level since February.

Crude oil prices remain high year to date, supported by OPEC+ supply cuts and expectations of a cut in US interest rates in September. 

Finally, political risks remain the focus of investors studying the repercussions of U.S. President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race.