Oil down as the US opens the spigot wider, pumping record levels of crude

• Oil dropping again as the US hits record levels of oil output.
• Dropping oil prices further weakens the OPEC's ability to keep prices afloat.

Crude oil is down again, with WTI trading near 61.50/barrel and Brent last seen at 65.20/barrel.

OPEC has worked hard lately to restrict global oil supply and keep prices in check, but that effort is being undermined by US output, which peaked at 10.25 million barrels/day last week. This is the highest oil production output the US has seen since the late 1970s, and the US is now a larger supplier of oil than Saudi Arabia, and is close to achieving an output on the same level as Russia.

With the US Energy Information Administration upping their forecasts for 2018 oilput for the US, both WTI and Brent crude can anticipate further downward pressure as the American oil boom continues to flood global supply and undermine the OPEC's desperate attempts to reign price levels in.

Oil Technicals

WTI Crude: trading near January lows, WTI has erased most of 2018's early gains, and is pricing in resistance as it goes, with 61.80 and 83.80 applying pressure to any upward swings, while the recent drop has seen most of the recent support fall away, with 58.90 far below now acting as support.

Brentwood Crude: Brent technicals appear to be in better shape, with heavy support from Daily charts appearing between 64.80 and 64.10, while bullish runs may find themselves capped by recent swing resistance at 66.70 and 67.88.