Oil prices remain largely steady amid US election uncertainty

November 04, 2026 (MLN): Oil prices declined in early Wednesday trading as investors monitored the outcome of the US midterm elections and assessed their potential implications for Middle East peace negotiations, while an unexpected decline in US crude inventories provided some support to the market.

Currently, Brent crude futures is up, 1.04%, at $105.86 per barrel, according to data by Mettis Global.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures is up by $1.01, or 0.97%, to $97.43 per barrel by [10:00 am] PST.

The latest losses followed a decline of more than 1% in Brent crude during the previous session, taking prices to their lowest level in nearly four weeks as traders evaluated diplomatic efforts to end the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Vote counting was underway in the US midterm elections, which will determine whether President Donald Trump's Republican Party retains control of Congress for the remainder of his second term, according to CNBC.

Meanwhile, attention remained focused on efforts to end the US-Israeli war with Iran. Qatar has intensified its mediation efforts to prevent further escalation in attacks following the US elections.

However, prospects for an agreement remain uncertain, with a senior Iranian official telling Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran and Washington remain far from reaching a deal to end the conflict.

Tensions persisted after the United States conducted what it described as defensive strikes on Iran's Qeshm island, targeting surface-to-air missiles used against US assets. A US official said the strikes appeared limited and did not indicate a return to large-scale military operations.

US President Donald Trump also told the Financial Times on Tuesday that Washington had no immediate plans to launch further strikes against Iran, adding that the United States was getting everything it wanted.

On the supply side, US crude inventories declined by 5.27m barrels during the week ended October 30, according to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), cited by market sources on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, gasoline inventories increased by 1.43 million barrels, while distillate stocks, including diesel, decreased by 1.19 million barrels compared with the previous week.

Haitong Futures noted that tight diesel inventories and a larger-than-expected increase in gasoline stocks presented mixed signals, adding that the overall inventory data remained supportive of oil prices.

Investors are now awaiting official inventory figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time (1530 GMT) on Wednesday.

Copyright Mettis Link News