OIL RALLIES ON US CRUDE STOCKPILE DRAWDOWNS

• WTI Oil trades up nearly 3% in just two trading days. 
• Oil traders are seeing bullish positioning paying off after US stockpiles unexpectedly declined.
• The US Dollar Index trades just below 103.00 ahead of US Retail Sales and PPI data.

Oil prices are rallying for a second consecutive day after the weekly US Crude data pointed to a drawdown in stockpiles. The recent drop was unexpected, although traders were already positioned for a draw in recent days with markets asking questions on how long the US could keep up this pace of pumping up Oil. It looks like OPEC and the US are playing a game of chicken to see who will be the first one to lose: the US by seeing its stockpile decline substantially, or will it be OPEC forced to apply more, longer, and deeper production cuts?

The US Dollar, meanwhile, is trading in the green ahead of this Thursday’s data release. With the weekly unemployment numbers, US Retail Sales and Producer Price data all being released at the same time, a spur of volatility could be upon us. 

Crude Oil (WTI) trades at $80.10 per barrel, and Brent Oil trades at $84.30 per barrel at the time of writing.