WTI sellers assault $87.00 as US President Biden contests OPEC+ ruling

WTI remains below the $87.00 support level as US President Biden expresses his displeasure with the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, known collectively as OPEC+. Nevertheless, the bears remain cautious at the weekly low throughout the Asian session on Wednesday.

Reuters reported that US Vice President Joe Biden stated on Tuesday that "there will be consequences" for US-Saudi ties following OPEC+'s announcement last week that it will reduce oil production against US concerns. The news further reported that Biden's remark occurred a day after the influential Democratic senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that the United States must immediately halt any cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including military sales. Notable is the fact that OPEC+ startled markets by declaring a two million-barrel-per-day output cut last week.

In addition to the OPEC+-agreed-upon supply cutbacks, the risk-aversion wave and the strengthening US Dollar Index (DXY) further weigh on commodities prices.

In spite of this, the DXY re-establishes a two-week high above 113.50 as higher US Treasury yields and hawkish Fed bets keep dollar investors optimistic ahead of today's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting Minutes.

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) most recent economic forecasts may also impose downward pressure on the price of black gold. Tuesday, the IMF dropped its global economic growth forecast for 2023 from 2.9% in July to 2.7%, citing pressures from rising energy and food prices and interest rate hikes as the primary reasons for the change. Notable is that the Washington-based institute maintained its 3.2% growth prediction for 2022, compared to 6.0% for 2021.

In conclusion, the risk-averse sentiment and optimism for an easing of the supply constraint weigh on the price of black gold prior to the private weekly inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which was previously -1.77M.