US crude oil futures edged higher on Monday, and the market tried to resume its gains for several weeks. US President Trump asked the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase production on Friday to ease the impact of US tightening on Iranian sanctions and suspend the gains that have lasted for several weeks.
Brent crude oil futures fell 0.11 US dollars, or 0.2%, to close at 72.04 US dollars per barrel, US crude oil futures rose 0.20 US dollars, or 0.3%, to close at 63.50 US dollars per barrel.
The two crude oil contracts fell about 3% on Friday after Trump told reporters that he had called OPEC and asked the organization to lower oil prices. Trump did not say who to talk to, nor did he say whether he was talking about previous discussions with OPEC officials.
As the details are still unclear, analysts and market participants put aside these comments.
“There is no OPEC representative or the Saudi government to acknowledge any discussion in this regard,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates.
"Trump has also adopted this obvious practice of lowering the price of gasoline. Although it initially caused the price of gasoline to fall, the price reached a new high, sometimes within a few days."
Trump’s remarks initially triggered a sell-off, briefly suppressing the gains since the beginning of the year, with a cumulative increase of 40%. Analysts said technical factors exacerbated price declines, including excessive speculative long positions in US crude oil.
In the week ending April 23, speculators increased the net long position of crude oil futures and options in New York and London by 24,078 to 326,818, the highest level since early October. This is the ninth consecutive week of growth.
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