Oil dips before Baker Hughes data which shows a decline in working rigs

• The US rig count fell 13 to 266 vs the previous 279 and Nat Gas rigs also fell 3 to 75.
• There have been other headlines which sent the price lower before the data.

WTI 1-hour chart

WTI had a pretty good session on Friday breaking the USD 40.00 per barrel psychological level once again. In the US session, there has been a decline in prices as the COVID-19 data seems to be getting worse in the US. American airline and travel companies are among the worst performers in the indices as travel restrictions are being enacted but some of the US states. Earlier on in the day, NY governor Cuomo stated that any visitors from Florida would need to quarantine for 14 days when arriving to to New York. This will put off travellers and therefore petro/gasoline purchases. 

Elsewhere data collected from JODI showed Russian crude oil production in March was revised upward by 35KBD and its April figure rose month-on-month by 68 KBD to 10.68 MBD. This could have been reason for the spike down in the chart below.  Lastly, the Saudi Oil Minister said he sees encouraging signs of demand recovery, but of course, he has a vested interest in the oil price.

Additional levels