Will US Crude Oil Futures Rise above $50 per Barrel This week?
September US crude oil prices are on a rollercoaster ride in 2017 due to bullish and bearish drivers. US crude oil prices are near a two-month high.
Nov. 20 2020, Updated 2:58 p.m. ET
Energy calendar this week 
Let’s track some important events for crude oil and natural gas traders on August 7–11, 2017.
- August 7–8, 2017 – The OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties) and non-OPEC technical committee will meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss compliance with the production cut deal.
- August 8, 2017 – The American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly crude oil inventory report.
- August 9, 2017 – The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) will release its weekly crude oil and gasoline inventory report.
- August 10, 2017 – OPEC will release its monthly oil market report.
- August 10, 2017 – The EIA will release its weekly natural gas storage report.
- August 11, 2017 – The IEA (International Energy Agency) will release its monthly oil market report.
- August 11, 2017 – Baker Hughes will release its weekly US oil and gas rig count report.
High and low 
US active crude oil (ERY) (ERX) (USL) (PXI) futures hit $26.21 per barrel on February 11, 2016—the lowest level in 13 years. In contrast, prices hit $54.45 per barrel on February 23, 2017—the highest level in more than 24 months.
Crude oil futures are near two months high 
September US crude oil (DIG) (SCO) (BNO) (IEZ) prices are on a rollercoaster ride in 2017 due to bullish and bearish drivers. US crude oil prices are near a two-month high. Higher crude oil prices have a positive impact on oil and gas producers such as Stone Energy (SGY), Hess (HES), Noble Energy (NBL), and Bill Barrett (BBG).
Will crude oil futures rise above $50 per barrel?
Key factors that could drive oil (IXC) (IYE) prices higher are:
- higher compliance by OPEC with the production cut deal in August 2017
- a fall in OPEC crude oil exports in August 2017
- a fall in US crude oil and product inventories
- a fall in global crude oil inventories
- a bullish monthly oil market report from OPEC and IEA
US crude oil forecast 
Oil traders are skeptical about the production cut deal’s success. In July 2017, Wall Street analysts downgraded the crude oil price forecast for the sixth month in a row.
In the next part of this series, we’ll see how Cushing crude oil inventories impact prices.