WTI Crude Oil Futures (February)

Friday’s Settlement: 70.60, up +0.98 [+1.41%] for the day, up +1.14 [+1.64%] for the week
Friday’s move higher was driven by geopolitical risk. Israel opened a new front in their conflict last week and started striking Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Houthi’s, who are aligned and funded by Iran, have been in regular conflict with Saudi Arabia over the past decade. Historically, the Houthi’s attack strategy has been to target the Kingdom’s oil & gas assets. Because of this, the market may add more risk-premia to this specific escalation than prior conflicts with Hamas or Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Today, futures are higher by +0.43 [+0.61%] to 71.03
Over the weekend, longer-range (two-week) weather maps started showing a blast of arctic air engulfing the United States. This “polar vortex”, scheduled to come about the middle of next week, will bring freezing temperatures not just into the midwest and Northeast, but also into Texas.
The potential for freezing temperatures in Texas could halt oil & gas production which is helping drive oil prices higher alongside Natural Gas prices [+16.55%].
Markets are also preparing for Trump’s inauguration as he has already threatened tariffs on oil producers in Canada and Mexico while promising “maximum pressure” on Iran.
Technical Analysis
WTI Crude Oil futures on Friday while settling higher, failed to settle above Thursday’s high of 70.75 and made a high on Friday of exactly 70.75. Today, futures have ripped above that level on geopolitical risk, Trump risk, and risk of a “Texas freeze”. This morning, futures are already testing the highs of our key three-star resistance zone of 69.73-70.04. This resistance zone has been a nuisance since mid-October, and we’ve had one settlement above this level since October 14th. A settlement above 71.21 would be significant, this is the key technical indicator to watch today. Our intraday pivot and point of balance is set at the Thursday & Friday highs of….
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