Brent crude slips below $103 as WTI trades near $95

Crude prices fell on Wednesday, November 4, as the US counted votes in the midterm elections and as Qatar’s mediation efforts seemed to be preventing a military conflict between the US and Iran. On the markets, Brent crude price fell below $103 per barrel, while WTI crude was trading near $95 per barrel. Crude stocks in the US had fallen, according to industry data.

Brent at $102.90 and WTI at $95.21 by 10:15 a.m. IST

Brent futures fell 0.67% to $102.90 a barrel in the 10:15 a.m. IST price snapshot on Moneycontrol platform on November 4. WTI futures fell 0.93% to $95.21 a barrel in the same snapshot.

American Petroleum Institute data showed a 5.27 million-barrel crude stock draw

API’s market data for the domestic market for the week ended 30 October indicates that crude stocks have decreased by 5.27 million barrels. Gasoline stocks, on the other hand, have increased by 1.43 million barrels.

Distillate inventories fell by 1.19 million barrels. Analysts on average expected to see crude oil inventories to rise by about 880,000 barrels according to a Reuters poll of eight analysts.

Iran and the United States remained apart on ceasefire terms

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington remained significantly apart on the terms of a ceasefire. Moneycontrol reported that Qatar was intensifying mediation efforts to avert further military escalation after the United States midterm elections.

One US official told Reuters that the US military had launched a series of targeted defensive strikes against surface-to-air missile sites on Iran’s Qeshm Island. A second US official later described the strikes as limited in nature and added that they were not intended to be the beginning of large-scale war.

President Donald Trump told the Financial Times that there were no immediate plans for further strikes against Iranian targets. He said, “We seem to be getting everything we want.”

Election counting continued after Brent's previous-session fall

Brent had dropped by more than 1% in the previous session’s trade, as markets focused on talks aimed at ending conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, Moneycontrol reported.

Midnight counting of the votes in the US midterm elections. Will President Donald Trump's Republican Party keep a majority of seats in Congress for the rest of his second term?

Energy Information Administration inventory report scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time
Reuters reported that the Energy Information Administration's official United States inventory report was scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, or 1530 GMT, on November 4.