Oil erases early losses following additional comments from US Energy Department

WTI crude futures (OIL.WTI) traded slightly above $78.5 a barrel on Thursday, after falling more than 3.0% earlier in the session, as the US Energy Department confirmed it has no plans to tap the nation’s oil reserves at the moment. The Energy Dept is walking back yesterday's comments from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm which raised caution among traders earlier this week. Granholm said the US government was mulling the release of crude supplies from the national strategic petroleum reserve in order to cool gas prices while a ban on oil exports is also an option. 

WTI crude futures (OIL.WTI) fell sharply at the beginning of the session however sellers failed to stay below the upward trendline and eventually price bounced back to $78.5 per barrel. If current sentiment prevails, an upward move may accelerate towards resistance at $79.75 which is marked by the upper limit of the 1:1 structure and previous price reactions. Source: xStation5