Oil Traders’ Focus Split between OPEC and Eurozone
(eToro Blog) With a key OPEC meeting looming and following the release of U.S. inventories report yesterday which showed a decline in oil stockpiles, crude oil prices held steady, with Nymex-traded WTI oil trading $0.20 higher to $82.82 a barrel. It’s clear, though, that traders remain on high alert on concerns that the Eurozone crisis could see a significant escalation from Greece in the days to come, which could put a marked dent in oil demand.
In Saudi Arabia, oil analysts are expecting that the key discussions will be regarding OPEC’s output policy but the outcome is uncertain. Over the past several days, analysts’ opinion has vacillated between a possible slowdown of output in order to rein in current excessive production levels to a more recent consensus that suggests that OPEC’s decision makers will maintain the status quo. Saudi Arabia has been under recent pressure from other OPEC members to cut production to maintain prices.
On OpenBook sentiment among oil traders is overwhelmingly bullish with 90% buying against 10% selling. German trader natureone000 holds a good mix of investments in his OpenBook portfolio, which includes a 22.9% allocation in oil over the past week which has provided a return of 19.5%. Earlier today, the trader’s three long positions in oil were profitably closed with an average return of 16%. The trader, who is new to OpenBook, had a rough start initially but seems to have regrouped as his 1-week profit was recorded at 154.6%.
Analysts say these two events could send traders to the sidelines, as price volatility is expected to be high; one analyst foresees WTI will trade in a broad range of between $80 and $86 over the next several days.
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