Brent crude ended the week near $98 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate finished near $91, leaving Brent down about 17% from the prior Friday’s $117.64 settlement for its steepest weekly loss since April 2020. The benchmarks gave back early Friday gains that had briefly lifted Brent back above $100 and to $99.90 a barrel and WTI to $91.69 after Iran reported three more tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
The weekly selloff was driven by an 8.67% drop in Brent to $94.62 and an 8.29% slide in WTI to $88.12 on Wednesday after Democrats swept the US House and Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Traders trimmed the war premium on expectations that the election defeat, which Vice President JD Vance blamed on the nine month conflict with Iran, would pressure President Donald Trump to seek a diplomatic deal.
Prices rebounded 3.88% on Thursday to $98.29 for Brent and $90.52 for WTI as hopes for an immediate end to the war faded and UK maritime security agency UKMTO data indicated Hormuz shipping strikes were continuing near a record pace. JPMorgan estimated the global oil market surplus widened to 1.4 million BPD in October with Strait flows returning near pre-war levels at higher cost, while investor Eric Nuttall noted that Strait exports remain down 4 million to 5 million BPD and depleted strategic reserves will require roughly 500,000 BPD of restocking demand over the next three years.
