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By: Razan Hilal, Market Analyst
Diplomatic risk, rather than fundamentals alone, is driving crude oil pricing. As of February 2026, crude oil prices are approaching a critical inflection point where geopolitical risk is exerting more influence than traditional supply and demand signals. Long-term resistance levels are being tested not because of immediate inventory shortages, but because markets remain sensitive to unresolved diplomatic outcomes. Political uncertainty has become a core pricing variable rather than a background consideration.
Razan Hilal, Market Analyst at FOREX.com, has extensive experience analyzing how geopolitical developments translate into technical price behavior across global energy markets. Her focus on the interaction between political risk, hedging flows, and chart structure provides a timely perspective on why crude oil resistance levels are attracting outsized attention.
Crude oil prices are increasingly acting as a barometer for geopolitical stress rather than immediate physical shortages. Razan Hilal explains that prices are “challenging a two-year downturn resistance zone” while negotiations between the United States and Iran remain unresolved. This dynamic keeps downside pressure limited even when momentum slows near technical ceilings. As a result, crude oil markets are assigning greater probability to upside extensions than to sustained pullbacks.
Crude oil hedging activity continues to build as traders position for potential supply disruption scenarios. Hilal highlights that “heightened geopolitical tensions and supply disruption risks across the Middle East and also between Russia and Ukraine” are reinforcing bullish bias near resistance. This behavior suggests markets are protecting against tail risks rather than reacting to confirmed events. Consequently, crude oil breakout levels are functioning as stress points for global political risk pricing.
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--- Written by Lindo Xulu, StoneX TV Journalist
--- Expert: Razan Hilal, Market Analyst, FOREX.com
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