WTI bounced off lows to $78.00 on the US Energy Department planning not to tap the oil reserves

• Crude oil price action has been up and down on the news linked to the ongoing global energy crisis.
• Russia’s natural gas offer to Europe tumbled crude oil prices to $75.00.
• US Energy Department stated that the agency is not considering release crude oil from its reserves.

Earlier during the day, crude oil prices tumbled down to $75.00 on Russian President Putin offering an increase of the natural gas supplies for Europe to stabilize energy prices. Nevertheless, as the New York session progressed, Western Texas Intermediate (WTI)  erased earlier losses on the back of the US Energy Department announcement saying that the agency is not considering release crude oil from the national strategic reserves. WTI is climbing 1.57%, trading at 77.92, at the time of writing.

The market sentiment is upbeat, as European and US stock markets are rising. The US debt ceiling short-term increase solution, provided by US Rep. Senator McConnell, eases investors’ mood tensions. Further, signals from Moscow saying that Rusia may increase gas supplies for Europe were cheered by the markets, sending oil prices tumbling down to $75.00.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the dollar performance against a basket of six rivals, is down 0.13%, currently at 94.11.

On the macroeconomic front, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that the working gas in storage was 3,288 billion cubic feet (Bcf) as of Friday, October 1, representing a net increase of 118 Bcf from the previous week.

WTI Price Forecast: Technical outlook

Daily chart

WTI is in a strong uptrend, portrayed by the daily moving averages (DMA’s) lying well below the price. 
For WTI buyers to resume the uptrend, they will need a daily close above $78.00. In case of that outcome, the first resistance level would be $79.00. A breach of the latter could push crude oil prices to $80.00.

On the flip side, WTI sellers will need a daily close, in line with Wednesday’s price action, below $77.00. Once that is achieved, the first support level would be the September 28 high at $76.65. A breach of that level would expose crucial support levels, the psychological $76.00, followed by the July 13 high at $75.47.

The Relative Strenght Index (RSI) is at 66, just exited from oversold levels, suggesting the uptrend bias remains and the price might consolidate before testing new highs.