Considering advanced prints from CME Group for crude oil futures markets, open interest extended the downtrend on Thursday, this time diminishing by around 16.7K contracts. Volume, instead, increased for the third consecutive session, now by nearly 186K contracts.

WTI: Next on the downside comes $70.00

Prices of WTI plummeted to the vicinity of the $72.00 region per barrel on Thursday. The sharp pullback was in tandem with shrinking open interest and is indicative that a deeper retracement seems not favoured in the very near term. On the downside, the next contention area is expected at the $70.00 zone.