WTI hovers near the highest since May 2015, eyes EIA data

• Elevated on Iran unrest, fresh USD selling.      
• The bullish bias remains intact.
• The US EIA crude inventory report - key.

WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) hit a fresh multi-year high above the $ 62 mark on Thursday, now consolidating the latest upsurge ahead of the US EIA crude stockpiles data.

WTI takes-out $ 62, what’s next?

The barrel of WTI extended its recent run of gains into a fifth day today, as the sentiment was lifted by rising geopolitical tensions in the OPEC’s key producer Iran. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Commander noted on Wednesday that they have deployed forces to three provinces to put down anti-government unrest that has been ongoing for a week, Reuters reported.

Moreover, strengthening heating oil demand in the US amid extremely cold weather conditions also offered a fresh boost to the US oil. Further, the prices also benefited from a drawdown seen in the weekly US crude stockpiles. The latest API data showed that the US crude oil inventories fell by 5 million barrels in the week to December 29 to 427.8 million barrels.

All eyes now remain on the official US government crude supplies data that will be reported by the EIA later on Thursday for fresh impetus. At the time of writing, WTI rises +0.50% to $ 61.94 while Brent trades +0.31% higher just ahead of $ 68.

WTI Technical Levels

The resistances are aligned at $62.20 (2-1/2 year tops) ahead of $62.58 (May 2015 high) and $63 (round figure). On the downside, supports are located at $61.36 (daily pivot), $60.95 (5-DMA) and $60.13 (10-DMA).