Oil prices rose on Wednesday as renewed concerns about Middle Eastern supply disruptions outweighed hopes for diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran. Continued fighting in Yemen, an attack on a major Saudi refinery and concerns about potential renewed U.S. military action against Iran supported prices. Brent crude futures gained $1.44, or 1%, to settle at $115.32 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $2.88, or 3%, to $102.78 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geopolitical tensions intensified after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Aden airport and claimed responsibility for a missile strike targeting Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery, which has a processing capacity of 550,000 barrels per day. Concerns also remained that the United States could resume military operations against Iran following the November 3 midterm elections. Meanwhile, Qatari mediators presented Iran with a proposed agreement to end the conflict, although Iranian officials indicated that the initial proposals were unacceptable. Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran remained open to diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. crude inventories provided additional support to prices after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an unexpected decline of 1.9 million barrels for the week ended October 23, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 15,000 barrels. Elsewhere, China issued an additional round of fuel export quotas for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, bringing its total allocations for 2026 in line with the previous year. Investors were also looking ahead to Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting, where producers are expected to maintain December production targets. Meanwhile, Russian crude exports from Baltic and Black Sea ports are expected to decline next month as domestic refineries increase diesel production under the recent supply agreement with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n