WTI Crude Oil Prices Soar on Geopolitical Uncertainties
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices rose to a nearly three-week high during the Asian session on Wednesday, but struggled to surpass $85.00. Despite this, WTI maintained its positive bias for the fourth consecutive day and appeared poised to appreciate further due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.
The US-Iran standoff remains a key factor in crude oil prices, with President Donald Trump's map depicting the Strait of Hormuz as new US territory and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf indicating that the waterway would remain closed until conditions agreed under a June memorandum of understanding are met. This keeps the war-risk premium in play.
From a technical perspective, WTI remains above the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level of its July-August slide, with mildly constructive momentum indicated by the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 56.90 and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) at 0.47.
The broader structure suggests limited upside while price remains capped below the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) pivotal resistance at $86.09 and the 50.0% retracement at $87.06. Initial support aligns with the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $82.38, ahead of deeper structural floors at $76.60 and $67.25.