CRUDE OIL CONTINUES TO SOFTEN ON MIDDLE EAST CEASEFIRE TALKS, WTI FALLS TO $78

• WTI softened further, extended backslide to $78 per barrel.
• Ceasefire talks drag down Crude Oil bets.
• US Crude Oil production remains thorn in barrel market’s side.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil futures fell on Monday after headlines of a possible ceasefire in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas. Crude Oil markets will also be keeping an eye out for weekly production updates from the US as output threatens to outpace demand.

Details are still forthcoming, but negotiations between Israel and Hamas have tilted towards a resolution, dragging down barrel bids that have spent months churning higher on broad-market concerns of a conflict spilling over into neighboring countries and threatening global Crude Oil markets.

Weekly production updates from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be closely watched by Crude Oil markets this week. US Crude Oil production has edged into higher territory in recent weeks, and supply is slowly beginning to outstrip demand. With week-on-week barrel counts slowly building out inventories beyond what demand is able to sop up, energy markets will be looking for a pull down in US production figures.