Energy Prospectus

After meeting with OPEC secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo on Tuesday, Iran’s oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said he and others in OPEC are hoping to get the oil price between $50 and $60 a barrel—higher than today’s $47 or so, but low enough to keep “rivals from raising their output,” the ministry said.

Previously, OPEC members like Algeria and Venezuela were pushing for prices near $70 per barrel, but some members have begun to temper their expectations. Venezuela continues to push for a price near $70, but Alegria’s oil minister, Noureddine Bouterfa, said OPEC is aiming for prices between $50 and $60 after meeting with Zanganeh over the weekend.

Read: http://www.oilandgas360.com/opec-hesita ... S_Campaign

Go to this website and click on the chart http://www.investing.com/analysis/crude ... -200152258

Speculative traders watch this stuff and react to it (self fulfilling prophecy?). If oil closes over $46 and there is any fundamental support (i.e. bullish storage report, rig count) then we could see a nice short covering rally.

It won't happen today, but with rumors of OPEC moving to curb production, it won't take much.

Spike in WTI at 4:30 ET. May be a bullish storage report from API.

it was very bullish----crude down 12mb, gasoline down >2mb, dist almost flat, cushing down 700+k

Imports were probably way down because of the tropical storm in the Gulf last week. Labor Day weekend is the last big week of gasoline consumption for the summer driving season. Refiners will now shift to making home heating oil.