By: OrePulse

Brent crude traded at 114 dollars a barrel on Friday, October 23, while the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at 100.40 dollars a barrel, as oil markets reacted to attacks on energy sites in Saudi Arabia attributed to Houthi forces and the shutdown of a pipeline in Libya. Brent crude serves as a global pricing benchmark for oil, while WTI is the primary U.S. benchmark.

Both benchmarks were on course for sharp weekly gains. Brent was set for an increase of about six dollars a barrel for the week. After trading near 99 dollars a barrel on Monday, WTI climbed above the 100-dollar mark by Friday.

Middle East developments were the dominant factor cited by traders during the week. Chief among them were attacks on energy infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia, including facilities belonging to state oil company Aramco, that were attributed to Houthi forces. Following the attacks, Aramco told employees to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran, in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Separately, Libya's National Oil Corporation said a pipeline linking two oil fields to the Zawiya export terminal had stopped operating, cutting output at both fields.

The combination of the two events added to existing concern among traders about the potential for wider regional conflict. In a note issued the same day, ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote that "markets are increasingly worried about renewed escalation in the Persian Gulf."

Patterson and Manthey also cited reports that President Trump was weighing additional strikes on Iran, and noted that a second U.S. aircraft carrier was being sent to the region. The analysts said these developments were adding to the uncertainty reflected in oil prices.

The strategists said expectations that U.S.-Iran tensions would ease once next month's midterm elections had passed were undermined by the renewed friction between the two countries. As a result, ING set aside its previous fourth-quarter forecast for an average Brent price of 80 dollars a barrel, with Patterson and Manthey describing that figure as "unattainable" under current conditions.

By Friday, both Brent and WTI were trading well above the levels at which they had started the week, with traders weighing the combined effect of the attacks in Saudi Arabia, the pipeline shutdown in Libya, and ING's revised price outlook.