WTI Crude oil futures managed to stay supported above the $100 per barrel mark, hovering near their highest levels since 2022, as the Iran conflict entered its fifth week and geopolitical risks continued to intensify. Concerns over supply disruptions grew after Iran-backed Houthi militants expanded hostilities, raising threats to key shipping routes like the Red Sea and critical energy infrastructure in the region. The counter is up around 55% in March and has largely been supported in last few sessions even as the US President Donald Trump said Iran and the US held talks and gave Iran a deadline to reach a ceasefire. This reflects that markets are largely unconvinced that Trump’s combination of a diplomatic push and threats of sending American troops on the ground will lead to a quick peace.

Meanwhile, Energy speculators increased their net long positions in the crude oil futures market unchanged, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The non-commercial futures contracts of Crude oil futures, traded by large speculators, hedge funds and retailers, totaled a net long position of 233620 contracts in the data reported through week ended March 24, 2026. This marked a weekly surge of 14932 contracts and pushed up net longs to nine -month high. WTI Crude is currently trading up 1% at $103.80 per barrel. MCX Crude should find this supportive after it ended marginally up at Rs 9812 per barrel in last session.