Open interest in crude oil futures markets dropped for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, now by around 8.7K contracts according to preliminary readings from CME Group. Volume, instead, reversed the previous decline and increased markedly by nearly 267K contracts.

WTI risks extra losses

WTI prices closed with market losses after hitting new yearly peaks on Tuesday. The daily retracement was accompanied by shrinking open interest, which removes some strength from further downside. However, the strong increase in volume could also reinforce the case for further selling pressure in the very near term.