Oil Jumps $2 After Iran Closes Door on Negotiations

Oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel, with Brent crude rising $2.06 or 1.9% to $110.85 a barrel by 10:48 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $2.13 or 2.2% to $99.95.

The surge came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Washington cannot expect dialogue as long as it besieges and threatens Iran. The Financial Times quoted Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as saying that Iran is fully prepared to defend itself. In the previous session, Brent touched a five-month high, and WTI reached a six-month high before prices pulled back.

Data from Kpler showed at least 18 attacks on vessels within two weeks, and LSEG analysts warned that attacks on tankers have spread from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, threatening Gulf crude loading and ship-to-ship transfer operations. In the United States, market sources said crude inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended October 16, according to American Petroleum Institute data, while gasoline and distillate inventories also declined, and a record volume of 787,000 Brent put option contracts was traded on Tuesday.

PVM analysts said neither of the two conflicts supporting market sentiment—in the Middle East and Ukraine-Russia—showed any sign of de-escalation.

What do these terms mean?

Brent Crude: A benchmark crude oil extracted from the North Sea, used as a pricing reference for about two-thirds of the world's oil.

West Texas Intermediate: A U.S. benchmark crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, used as an indicator for oil prices in the United States.

Put Options: Contracts giving the buyer the right to sell an asset at a specified price within a set period, used by traders to hedge against price declines.

Oil Inventories: Quantities of stored crude and refined products, monitored by the market because their rise or fall reflects the balance of supply and demand.