Slightly Higher In Asia

WTI and Brent are ~$0.40 higher from settlement at typing, printing $92.31 and $97.24 respectively.

• To recap, both benchmarks backed away from fresh cycle highs on Tuesday ($96.00 for WTI and $99.50 for Brent), with participants removing some of the geopolitical risk premium that had developed earlier in the day as it became apparent that western sanctions re: Russia were a little more lenient than some had feared. BBG source reports carrying remarks from a senior U.S. State Dept official noted that the sanctions were designed to avoid upsetting energy markets.
• A reminder that hope surrounding a potential U.S.-Iran nuclear deal remains elevated, providing at least some counter to the impulse from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation.
• From a technical perspective, bullish conditions remain intact for oil. Tuesday’s rally saw WTI and Brent clear resistance at $98.94 (2.764 projection of the Dec 2-9-20 price swing) and $95.82 (Feb 14 high and bull trigger), respectively, before pulling back to current levels. Bulls now look to $98.24 (3.00 proj. of the Dec 2-9-20 price swing) in WTI and $100.00 (key psychological barrier) in Brent.