WTI Hits $83 As The Demand-Supply Imbalance Continues

The Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) touched the $83 during the Asian trading session today as the imbalance in the supply chain continues.

WTI Tops The $83 Mark Earlier Today

The Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) has been performing excellently since the start of the year. The commodity kicked it off a notch over the past few months as global supply chain issues continue to affect trades.

Earlier today, the WTI hit a fresh $83 per barrel during the Asian trading session. The supply dip and global demand upsurge boosted the demand for black gold. Thanks to the demand surge, crude oil prices touched a fresh seven-year high. The shortage of natural gas in Europe and Asia continues to boost the oil demand.

Despite the recent rally, Howie Lee, Economist at OCBC Bank, says he is not sure WTI and Brent could reach the $100 level before the end of the year. The economist said there is no justification for the oil price to hit the $100 mark despite the ongoing supply bottleneck.

Lee added that he believes that this is as high as crude oil prices can go, with Brent around the $85 level and WTI trading around $80 per barrel. However, he believes the prices could increase by a margin of $3- $5/bbl.

WTI Up By More Than 70% In 2021

The crude oil market has had its biggest boom in years. 2021 has favored the black gold as prices as up by more than 70% since the start of the year. WTI started trading at $49 per barrel at the start of the year, and it is now at $82.25 per barrel.

Despite its earlier rally, the WTI is currently down by 0.5% over the past few hours. WTI is trading at $82.259 after rallying past the $83 mark earlier today. If the commodity can maintain its recent momentum, then it could attempt to top the $85 soon.