Crude oil futures down 0.17% to Rs 3,019, WTI trades above $41 a barrel

Crude oil futures eased to Rs 3,019 per barrel on September 18 as participants increased their short positions. Prices gained as Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) threatened to crack down on member states that failed to comply with an output cut.

Saudi Prince Abdulaziz also warned short sellers not to challenge the kingdom’s resolve to support the market.

OPEC admitted that the demand recovery has been uneven while risk persists amid rising coronavirus cases.

“Crude prices have rallied sharply in the last few days and may lose momentum amid lack of fresh action by OPEC,” said Ravindra Rao, VP-Head Commodity Research, Kotak Securities.

In the futures market, crude oil for September delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 3,042 and a low of Rs 3,002 per barrel on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 2,672 and a high of Rs 3,285.

Crude oil futures for September delivery slipped Rs 5, or 0.17 percent, to Rs 3,019 per barrel at 15:20 hours IST on a business turnover of 3,358 lots. The same for October delivery declined Rs 13, or 0.43 percent, to Rs 3,043 per barrel on a business volume of 388 lots.

The value of September and October’s contracts traded so far is Rs 643.97 crore and Rs 15.06 crore, respectively.

Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities, expects oil prices to trade sideways to up for the day. "MCX September Crude Oil futures has support at Rs 2,950 and resistance at Rs 3,090."

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.15 percent at $41.03 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark, gained 0.23 percent to $43.40 per barrel.