Oil finishes the week sharply lower as the OPEC rumour mill begins

WTI crude posted an ugly finish to the week, falling $2.33 to $73.57 on Friday.

Oil rallied strongly to start the week and was still holding in positive territory early today but slumped when Reuters, citing sources, reported that OPEC still plans to start gradually bringing on production in October.

That led to a heavy round of selling that will mean the lowest weekly close since August 2 and the second-worst since February.

One thing that oil traders might want to put on their radar is the hurricane map. It’s been a quiet hurricane season so far but we’re heading into the peak of storm season and there are a couple of prospects in the mid-Atlantic. The NHC gives a 40% chance of the nearest once developing into a tropical cycle in the coming seven days.

That said, hurricanes are the driver for US oil prices that they used to be now that so much production is onshore. That’s a big reason why September seasonals for crude are so poor.

As for OPEC+, expect frequent rumors on the production front in the month ahead.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.