FX.co ★ CL/Crude Oil

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) - the US Crude Oil price benchmark - sees new buyers coming into play on Thursday, as the commodity climbs to the area of $99.35 during the European trading session. At the same time, the commodity is still close to reaching its highest price since September 15, achieved recently, due to fears over a possible aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, which led to concerns regarding possible disruptions in energy supplies and became a significant driver of the black gold's growth. The latest update says that two expatriates have been killed, while two other people were wounded in the drone strike at Saudi Aramco's oil field Shaybah in the Eastern Province. In a separate development, the New York Times revealed that the US and Israel are planning a swift and powerful military attack on Iran following the US mid-term elections. Elsewhere, the Iranian foreign minister, Mr. Abbas Araghchi, highlighted that Iran is well-prepared for any aggression and mentioned that Tehran is willing to give US diplomacy a second chance. Technically speaking, crude oil has been trading strongly above the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) level on the 4-hour time frame. Additionally, Tuesday's rebound from resistance to the support level around the $95.00 area confirms the continuation of the short-term uptrend in light of recent volatility caused by conflicting information over US-Iran peace talks. On the other hand, RSI levels at 57 indicate a neutral to bullish bias, even as MACD lines still signal a negative trend, which means that the current upside pressure appears relatively stable but not aggressive. However, the overall positive setup implies that any corrective decline should be stopped by $95.00. The structural support level is the 100-period moving average, which stands at $92.76, and buyers should regain control of price action on further retreat in the existing bullish framework. But if $92.76 support is violated, the bullish structure would become weaker, while staying above the level would keep the door open for a higher test of the $100 psychological zone and beyond.