[International Oil Prices] Below $100 a Barrel as U.S. Democrats’ Landslide Victory Boosts Hopes for an End to the War

[Financial News]  

International oil prices plunged by around 9% on the 4th (local time), falling below $100 a barrel.
Vice President JD Vance’s remarks that the Iran war was the reason Republicans suffered a heavy defeat in the midterm elections the previous day triggered the sharp drop in oil prices.
January-delivery Brent crude for next year, the benchmark for international oil prices, fell 9.3% from the previous session during trading to $93.95 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), the benchmark for U.S. oil prices, also plunged 8.9%, falling to $87.70 a barrel for the December contract.
Since the start of this week, Brent crude has plunged more than 17%, while WTI has fallen nearly 16%.
Vice President Vance’s remarks triggered the plunge in oil prices.
Vance said on social media, “The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone,” adding that the Iran war was the reason. He stressed that the most common response in exit polls asking Republican voters why they had voted for a Democratic candidate instead was a demand to “End the war.”
Seb Barker, chief market strategist (CMS) at hedge fund Marshall Wace, told the Financial Times (FT), “The market is saying that members of Congress and the administration are likely to start acting as a constraint on President Trump’s war with Iran.”
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, also voiced support for Vice President Vance’s remarks on social media platform X.
According to a CBS report that day, President Trump also asked his aides whether he should fire Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is leading the war with Iran.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vowed that the Democrats, now the majority party, would work with Republicans to end the war with Iran.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter