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Prices for benchmark Brent Crude Oil are correcting, trading just below the 75.90 mark.

The market continues to remain under serious pressure, despite reports that the passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits is

recovering. It is worth recalling that since December 1, Turkey has imposed additional restrictions on movement through its territorial waters for tankers with crude oil, requiring crews to have a special letter with insurance guarantees to protect against risks such as collisions and oil spills, as a result of which, due to the slowdown in traffic, there was already a cluster of 27 ships on Sunday. Such actions by Turkey were a reaction to the embargo from the EU and the USA on the import and transportation of Russian "black gold" by sea, which came into force on December 5. Against this background, oil quotes began an active decline, and the situation has not normalized so far, despite drone images that indicate a gradual recovery of the movement of ships.

As for investment demand for oil contracts, it continues to decline: according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), last week the number of open positions of traders amounted to 231.7K, which is lower than 239.7K a week earlier, signaling the outflow of investors from the asset for the fourth week in a row.   

On the daily chart, the price continues to trade within the descending corridor, approaching the support line.

Technical indicators still hold a stable sell signal, which almost completely excludes an upward correction: the fast EMAs of the alligator indicator are still well below the signal line, and the histogram of the AO oscillator forms new descending bars, being in the sales zone.

Support levels: 75.30, 70.00. | Resistance levels: 79.30, 85.60.