March WTI crude oil futures have put in a robust early session rally. Prices have jumped by more than $1.25 during the U.S. session amid heavy buying. At press time, March WTI is above $53.00 and has posted an intrasession high ($53.93) above Monday’s northern extreme ($53.64).

The weekly inventories cycle gets underway this afternoon with the API Crude Oil Stocks Report. Recent reports have shown supply builds in accordance with the pattern of traditional crude oil seasonality. Here is a look at what to expect out of this week’s inventories statistics:

Event                                             Previous       Projected

API Crude Oil Stocks                      +6.55M             NA

EIA Crude Oil Stocks                       +7.97M           3.0M

While no official estimates are released for the API figure, the EIA stocks numbers are expected to come in at a positive 3.0 million barrels for the week. In short, industry insiders expect the recent trend of growing supply to continue.

March WTI Crude Oil Futures: Technical Outlook

The volatility of the past two sessions has increased greatly over the levels of late last week. Action in March WTI has been significant, with daily ranges for Monday and Tuesday eclipsing 200 ticks.

Overview: WTI has opened up considerably since last Friday. However, while the daily ranges are relatively large, price remains firmly between the psychological barriers of $55.00 and $50.00. Until this market tests either extreme, values are very likely to remain near flat while entering a consolidation phase.