By 11:55 a.m. ET, the December ICE Brent contract gained $2.38 to trade at $111.20 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose $1.27 to $98.42. Refined products followed the upward trend, with ULSD climbing 3.14 cents to $4.7947 per gallon and November RBOB adding 1.85 cents to reach $3.139 per gallon.

The volatility follows a drone attack on the Shaybah oil field in Saudi Arabia. While the Saudi Press Agency confirmed that operations remain unaffected, the incident resulted in two fatalities. In response, the U.S. State Department has ordered nonemergency personnel to depart the country. Tensions were further stoked by a projectile strike on a tanker near Oman and reports of potential joint U.S.-Israel military preparations regarding Iran.

Despite these supply-side anxieties, Kpler data indicates that Middle East crude exports have rebounded, averaging 24 million barrels per day through October 18—surpassing prewar levels of 23.3 million. However, analysts at MUFG maintain that the persistent danger to shipping lanes and infrastructure forces traders to price in a permanent geopolitical risk premium. Meanwhile, domestic data shows U.S. crude inventories dropped by 3.1 million barrels to 412.5 million, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has hit its lowest point since 1982 at 282.7 million barrels.