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• WTI struggles to gain any meaningful traction, though the bias seems tilted in favor of bulls.
• Escalating geopolitical tensions fuels supply concerns and acts as a tailwind for the commodity.
• The technical setup also suggests that the path of least resistance for Oil prices is to the upside.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US crude Oil prices lack any firm intraday direction on Wednesday and oscillate in a narrow band during the Asian session. The commodity currently trades around the $82.65-$82.70 region, nearly unchanged for the day, and remains well within striking distance of its highest level since April 26 touched the previous day.

Investors remain concerned that a wider conflict in the Middle East could disrupt supplies from the key Oil-producing countries. This, along with a very strong start to the hurricane season in the US, turned out to be a key factor acting as a tailwind for the black liquid. That said, concerns over a slowdown in global economic growth might hold back bulls from placing fresh bets and cap the upside for Crude Oil prices.

From a technical perspective, this week's breakout through a short-term trading range comes on the back of the recent strength and acceptance above the very important 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). Moreover, oscillators on the daily chart are holding in positive territory and are still away from being in the overbought zone, suggesting that the path of least resistance for Crude Oil prices is to the upside. 

Hence, any subsequent weakness below the overnight swing low, around the $82.25 region, is likely to find decent support near the $82.00 mark. This is followed by the aforementioned trading range breakpoint point, now turned support near the $81.55 area, which if broken might prompt some technical selling. Crude Oil prices might then slide to the $81.00/barrel mark en route to the $80.40-$80.35 horizontal support.

On the flip side, momentum back above the $83.00 mark is likely to confront some resistance near the $83.75-$83.80 region, or over a two-month peak set on Tuesday. Some follow-through buying, leading to a move beyond the $84.00 mark, will be seen as a fresh trigger for bulls and allow Crude Oil prices to accelerate the positive move towards the next relevant barrier, just ahead of the $85.00 psychological mark.

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