WTI firmer, in highs around $54.30 ahead of Payrolls

Crude oil prices are extending the weekly recovery on Friday, lifting the West Texas Intermediate to the area above the $54.00 mark per barrel.

WTI bolstered by weak USD, looks to NFP

Prices for the WTI are advancing for the third consecutive session so far, retaking the $54.00 mark and beyond and extending at the same time the bounce off weekly lows in the $52.00 neighbourhood.

WTI has also been supported today by comments by Kuwait officials, saying that the country is planning to cut its output more than required by the recent OPEC deal.

Also sustaining the advance in prices, the EIA reported on Thursday a decrease of more than 7 million barrels of crude oil inventories during the past week, more than the expected drop of 1.7 million barrels. The results added to the previous report by the API, showing a draw of 7.4 million barrels in crude stockpiles, the largest since September.

Later in the NA session, US Non-farm Payrolls is expected to show the economy has added nearly 180K jobs during December, while the unemployment rate is seen at 4.7% from 4.6%.

WTI levels to consider

At the moment the barrel of WTI is gaining 0.82% at $54.20 and a breakout of $54.51 (high Dec.12) would expose $55.24 (2017 high Jan.3) and finally 62.58 (high May 6 2015). On the other hand, the immediate support lines up at $52.93 (20-day sma) followed by $52.11 (low Jan.3) and then $51.66 (high Dec.9).