Crude Oil Prices Hit Six-Month High as Iran War Escalation Fears Grow

By Adedapo Adesanya

Crude oil prices jumped more than 2 per cent on Friday and settled ​at their highest levels since the end of April, as traders braced for a potential escalation in the Iran war after the US midterm elections.

Brent crude futures gained $2.76 or 2.4 per cent to trade at $117.64 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled $2.12, or 2.08 per cent, higher at $104.12.

For the month, Brent finished 13.6 per cent higher, while WTI rose 15.2 per cent.

After the US midterm elections on November 3, there is increasing possibility that the US may step attack on Iran.

The US ordered non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave Saudi Arabia effective October 23 due to safety risks, the US embassy in Riyadh said on Friday, citing Houthi attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure.

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militants said on Thursday they had attacked ​several sites in Saudi Arabia, including the large Ras Tanura oil refinery, the Rabigh refinery and a production facility in Abqaiq owned by state oil company Saudi ​Aramco.

On Friday, a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by explosive devices attached by a small ⁠boat, said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the British maritime security service. It was the first known successful strike in the waterway using limpet mines, explosives that are attached to a ship’s hull from a small boat, ​since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February.

A Saudi-led coalition also said it had intercepted a cruise missile launched by the Houthis towards the kingdom’s western region.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vice President JD Vance had reached out to Iran to help the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran’s top security official to revive peace talks. Iran reportedly received a letter from Vance, but it has not responded to it yet.

Saudi Arabia’s crude exports rose ​in October from September, despite Iranian attacks on shipping in the Gulf and claims by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis of attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

Meanwhile, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said an armed group shut ​a valve on Friday on the main Hamada crude oil pipeline, which links the Hamada field to the Zawiya refinery. It said the closure of the valve had halted the flow of about ​15,000 barrels per day.