Oil Heads for Steep Weekly Drop Despite Middle East Supply Risks

Oil prices are set for a sharp weekly drop on expectations of a de-escalation of the Iran war after US President Donald Trump's party suffered election losses, but Middle East supply concerns from the conflict continue to provide a floor for the market.

Brent crude futures for January LCOc1 rose on Friday by $1.29, or 1.31%, to $99.58 a barrel as of 0504 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 climbed 86 cents, or 0.95%, to $91.38 a barrel. Brent briefly breached the $100-a-barrel mark in morning trade.

Still, the Brent contract is on track to drop by 12% this week after the December contract expired on October 30, while WTI is set to drop 12.1%.

The contracts plunged earlier this week on expectations that US midterm elections on Tuesday, which swung the Senate and House of Representatives to the Democratic Party from Trump's Republicans, could lead to a de-escalation of the US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its ninth month.

This story was originally published by Offshore Engineer. Read the full story at Offshore Engineer →