Crude futures were mixed in Asian trading on Friday as fresh signs of inventory building and the Fed's rate hike this week kept prices under pressure amid a global glut of oil that shows no sign of abating, prompting traders to buy more put options.
U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were down 9 cents at $34.86 a barrel by 0731 GMT (2.31 a.m. ET). Brent LCOc1 was up 12 cents at $37.18 a barrel.
Both contracts are on track to post a third week of losses, with U.S. crude down 2.2 percent and Brent off by 2 percent.
Sandu said the bears won't be satisfied till they test lows reached during the global financial crisis of $32.40 for WTI and $36.20 for Brent in December 2008.
"That's the first target the bears are gunning for," Sandu said. "I think they will test those and once they hit them, see whether they can press below $30 for WTI.
Traders are preparing for even lower crude prices next year, taking up increasing amounts of put options to sell U.S. crude in February should prices fall to $30, $25 or even $20 per barrel, according to Reuters data.
From February, the northern hemisphere peak heating demand season starts coming to an end, leading to lower energy and fuel demand in spring and summer.
At the same time, many expect Iran crude exports to fully return to the market during the first quarter of 2016 if or when sanctions against Tehran are lifted.
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