Advertisement
Advertisement

Crude Oil Price Analysis – Oil Continues to See Range Form

By
Christopher Lewis
Published: May 21, 2026, 13:18 GMT+00:00

Crude oil rallies slightly in the early part of the session on Thursday, as the back and forth is a feature of this market, not a “bug.”

Light Sweet Crude Oil Technical Analysis

The light sweet crude oil market initially fell to kick off the Thursday session, but has since turned around to show signs of life. Interest rates in America are rising and perhaps that’s a sign that we’re worried about another attack in the Middle East.

But really, at this point in time, I think the market has gotten exhausted, it doesn’t really know what to do with all the back and forth when it comes to the situation in Iran. And with that, there really isn’t a whole lot to do, you just go back and forth, and you tread water.

So, all things being equal, I think this is a market that, when it drops, you probably look to buy it, but you’re not looking for big moves. I think we’re just stuck right around the $100 a barrel level.

Brent Technical Analysis

The Brent market has tested the $104 level over the last day or so, and then turning around at this point, it’s likely that the market could go back to the $112 level. The market is likely to remain very bound as well.

I do think the one thing that you can take away from the charts and the general behavior of crude oil is that the high might not go any higher than it was a couple of months ago, but I think the lower will remain higher than it once was. In other words, we are going to settle in at a higher baseline price.

Right now, for Brent, I believe $100 is your floor, the 50-day EMA is sitting there as well, so it makes sense. I’m looking for value. I’m not looking to hang on to a trade for any significant amount of time.

Quite frankly, all it would take is the wrong random tweet to set the whole world on fire when it comes to trading crude oil.

About the Author

Chris is a proprietary trader with more than 20 years of experience across various markets, including currencies, indices and commodities. As a senior analyst at FXEmpire since the website’s early days, he offers readers advanced market perspectives to navigate today’s financial landscape with confidence.

Advertisement