Oil found a way to finish higher on the week

WTI crude oil settled up $3.25 today to $86.79 on the day. That’s higher than last week’s close at $85.98 and represents an impressive turnaround from $81.20 at yesterday’s low.

The market is struggling to price in tight global supplies against worries of falling future demand.

There are also uncertainties about how much natural gas-to-oil swtiching we will see this winter in Europe and Asia. One bullish signal today came from German economy minister Habeck who said he wants to put diesel-fired power plant ships off the coast to replace nuclear plants that are shutting down.

That will add to demand for diesel, where US inventories are already tight according to John Kemp.

Mix in uncertainty about the SPR, the Russian price cap/ban, the Iran deal and the economy and it’s a volatile trade. The big doji start on this week’s chart indicates that more wild moves are coming.