Crude prices pulled back this week after touching their highest levels in roughly six months, as renewed signs of contact between Washington and Tehran gave traders a reason to trim the hefty risk premium built into the market — even as Yemen’s Houthi movement kept striking Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure.
Brent, WTI Ease From Friday's Highs
Brent crude had settled above $114 a barrel on Friday, its strongest close in nearly six months, after Houthi missiles and drones hit targets across Saudi Arabia and the UAE reported a separate oil spill.
US crude, West Texas Intermediate, finished near $101. Both benchmarks have eased since, tracking a pattern that has defined the market for months: prices jump on fresh attacks, then give back some of the gain whenever a diplomatic opening appears.
US-Iran Talks Offer a Modest Opening
That opening, for now, is modest. US and Iranian officials have held several rounds of indirect, Oman-brokered talks in recent weeks, and Washington says a channel reopened on the sidelines of September’s UN General Assembly remains active.
The agenda reportedly includes safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program, and sanctions relief — but US President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals, at one point telling the UN he faced a “big decision” between a deal and further strikes, while also suggesting Tehran may simply be waiting out the November 3 midterms.
Houthi Strikes on Saudi Arabia Continue
The attacks, meanwhile, have shown no sign of stopping. Iran-aligned Houthi forces, who have battled a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for years, have spent October hitting Saudi Arabia’s Jazan refinery, airport infrastructure in Dammam and Riyadh, and facilities tied to state oil giant Aramco, which evacuated its
Dhahran headquarters last week as fighting intensified. One strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed more than a dozen people and injured hundreds, among the deadliest single incidents since the US and Israel’s war with Iran began in late February.
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