WTI crude oil closed at $71.67 after a flat day yesterday, continuing its recent sideways trend

With around 7 days of flat trade under its belt, Pointing in a similar direction, yesterday's session was more of the same — after ending Thursday at $71.86, US crude oil went up to $73.4 only to drop back to its starting point and close at $71.67 per barrel.

WTI crude's state is reflected by market data as United States CFTC Crude Oil speculative net positions released yesterday at 20:30 UTC with a figure of 191,500, while the previous figure was 216,600. United States CFTC Gold speculative net positions released yesterday at 20:30 UTC with a figure of 179,800, while the previous figure was 195,800. United States CFTC Nasdaq 100 speculative net positions released yesterday at 20:30 UTC with a figure of 20,000, while the previous figure was 21,400.

Crude Oil made an initial breakout above its 21 day Simple Moving Average at $72.54, a potential indicator of a newly emerging bullish phase. WTI crude oil is approaching key support, around 92 cents away from $70.75. Dipping below could indicate further losses are ahead while a failure to break below this level is likely to be seen positively by market bulls.

Despite muted price action in WTI crude oil, chart analysis indicates it is positioned for a bullish run in the short term.

Meanwhile, mixed performances are seen in other Energy as after ending yesterday's session at $2.4, Heating Oil lost 3.6 cents and is trading around $2.37.

WTI crude oil hit a significant low of $68.25 around 17 days ago, but has since recovered 5.29%.