Economy
Oil Falls as Peace Talk Hopes Ease Middle East Conflict Fears
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil was down on Thursday morning following hopes for peace talks, which took the edge off renewed concerns over Middle East supply disruptions from escalating regional conflict.
Brent crude futures declined by $1.22 or 1.1 per cent to $114.10 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down by $1.33 or 1.3 per cent to $101.45 per barrel.
US Vice President JD Vance sought to revive peace negotiations by sending a letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
Qatari mediators have presented Iran with a new draft deal to end the war with the US and Israel.
Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that it continued to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and flagged the possibility of completing its seven-day plan in less than a week if adopted.
Meanwhile, there are concerns over intensified attacks by the Houthis and fears the US may launch an attack on Iran following its midterm elections set for November 3.
President Trump has repeatedly hinted at or outright said he may restart attacks on Iran after the midterms, leading to anticipation of new hostilities next month.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the group towards the kingdom’s eastern region early on Thursday, as hostilities between the two sides show no signs of abating.
The Houthis attacked Aden airport on Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said.
The attack came a day after the Houthis said they hit Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil refinery with a missile, stepping up strikes against the world’s second-largest crude producer after the US.
Crude oil inventories in the US saw a decrease of 1.9 million barrels during the week ending October 23, according to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.
The decrease brings commercial stockpiles to 410.6 million barrels, according to government data, which is now 4 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year.
The EIA’s data release follows figures by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories had fallen by 2.031 million barrels in the period.
