Investing.com -- Oil prices on Thursday pared losses to settle little changed, as traders weighed diplomatic efforts to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table against supply disruption fears. Concerns rose over renewed military strikes by Washington against Tehran, while the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi Arabia-backed government in Yemen continued to engage in furious fighting.
Brent crude futures expiring in December inched down 0.1% to settle at $111.50 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures expiring in December ticked up 0.1% to settle at $102.86 a barrel.
The crude contracts had initially fallen on Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Vice President JD Vance had reached out to Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, in a move that could help establish a channel for negotiations. Iranian state media confirmed that a message had been sent by Vance, but that Iran had not responded and that speculations were "wrong."
Separately, President Donald Trump told Axios on Wednesday that negotiations were taking place through mediators, but stressed that he did not know whether they would produce results. Earlier this week, representatives from Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye held a quadrilateral meeting and agreed to continue discussions aimed at strengthening peace and security.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Qatari mediators had presented Tehran with a new draft proposal aimed at ending the conflict. However, an Iranian official described the ideas as unacceptable, Reuters added.
But the mood was clouded later after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had received a briefing on potential military action against Iran from the top U.S. commander in the Middle East. The U.S. president has said before that he will not attack Iran before the midterm elections on November 3. Trump is instead reportedly considering carrying out short and intense military action against Iran after the elections.
Energy market participants also kept a close eye on Middle East flows amid a raging conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. The coalition this month stepped up an offensive push to retake swathes of land captured by the Houthis around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthis have responded by targeting Saudi infrastructure and civilian buildings such as airports.
A spokesperson for the Houthis on Thursday said the group had carried out six military operations against Saudi Arabia over the past few days, including targeting Ras Tanura, the kingdom's biggest oil refinery.
Ayushman Ojha and Scott Kanowsky contributed to this article
Original Article
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