[Oil Prices] Prices End Slightly Higher Amid Ongoing Uncertainty; Plunge More Than 16% for the Week

[Financial News]  

International oil prices ended slightly higher on the 6th (local time).
However, prices plunged by double digits over the week, as a landslide victory for the Democratic Party in the U.S. midterm elections on the 3rd boosted hopes that the war with Iran could end through negotiations.
Brent crude, the benchmark grade for international oil prices, for delivery in January next year settled at $98.32 a barrel, up $0.03 (0.03%) from the previous session.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark grade for U.S. oil prices, for December delivery settled at $90.83 a barrel, up $0.31 (0.34%).
Despite the gains on the day, Brent crude plunged more than 16% over the week, while WTI fell nearly 13%.
Markets are weighing what impact the Democratic Party’s landslide midterm election victory could have on the actual war with Iran.
Markets have yet to reach a clear conclusion on whether the large-scale renewed strikes on Iran that President Donald Trump signaled would follow the election will become reality, or whether negotiations with Iran will resume.
Fox News also reported on the 6th that a remark was made at the White House National Security Council meeting attended by the president the previous day that military operations would be favored on the 9th, when a crescent moon over the Middle East would mean little moonlight.
Bob McNally, founder and president of Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC he puts the odds of military operations resuming at 80%, and forecast that both Brent crude and WTI would again top $100 a barrel as a result.
McNally explained, “President Trump is resolute in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons at any cost,” adding, “The Iranian regime, by contrast, is unwilling to give up...so the risk of tensions escalating is high.”
Anxiety over the Strait of Hormuz is also mounting.
Iran announced the previous day that three more oil tankers had been struck in the Strait of Hormuz, and according to the Royal Navy’s maritime security organization, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the number of attacks on tankers in the strait remains at a record high.
However, diplomatic efforts to reach a deal are also continuing.
Reuters reported, citing a senior Iranian official, that Iran had made a proposal to the United States related to nuclear weapons through Qatar.

[email protected] Song Gyeong-jae Reporter