Oil edges down as investors await US midterm election results

Oil prices slipped in early trade on Wednesday as investors awaited US midterm election results and their potential impact on Middle East peace talks, even after industry data showed US crude stocks unexpectedly fell last week.

Brent futures fell 26 cents, or 0.25%, to $103.34 a barrel by 0157 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 53 cents, or 0.55%, to $95.56.

In the previous session, Brent eased more than 1% ​to its lowest level in nearly four weeks as traders weighed talks to ​end the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Vote counting was underway in the ⁠US midterm elections, which will determine whether Trump’s Republican Party retains control of Congress for ​the rest of his second term.

Markets remained on watch for any progress in talks to ​end the US-Israeli war with Iran, as Qatar stepped up mediation efforts to avert an escalation of attacks after the US midterm elections.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that Iran and the ​United States remain far from a deal to end their war.

The United States carried out “defensive” ​strikes on Iran’s Qeshm island targeting surface-to-air missiles used against US assets, a US official said on ‌Tuesday. Another ⁠official said the strikes appeared limited and did not signal a return to major combat operations.

US President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Tuesday that the United States had no immediate plans to strike Iran.

“We seem to be getting everything we want,” Trump said ​in the six-minute telephone ​interview.

Meanwhile, crude stocks fell ⁠by 5.27 million barrels in the week ended October 30, market sources said on Wednesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute.

Eight analysts polled ​by Reuters had expected, on average, a rise of about 880,000 ​barrels in ⁠crude inventories.

Gasoline stocks rose by 1.43 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 1.19 million barrels from a week earlier, the sources said.

“Diesel inventories remain tight, while gasoline stocks rose more ⁠than ​expected. The data are broadly supportive of oil prices,” ​Haitong Futures said in a note on Wednesday.

Official data from the US Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 ​a.m. EST (1530 GMT) on Wednesday.