Crude oil closes: Iran attack on Saudi Arabia rumors heighten demand concerns Crude oil rose for the first time in three days

News on November 2, trading rights continue to weigh the outlook for energy demand, while reports that Saudi Arabia is on high alert for a possible attack on Iran, gold futures rose
for the first time in three trading days.

December futures for West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.
84, or 2.
1 percent, to close at $88.
37 a barrel, after hitting an intraday high of $89.
45
.
ICE Futures Europe's global benchmark Brent crude oil futures for January rose $1.
84, or 2 percent
, to $94.
65 a barrel.

Gasoline prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2.
7 percent to $2.
5945 a gallon in December and heating oil prices fell 1.
4 percent to $
3.
6211 a gallon in December.
Natural gas prices fell 10.
1 percent to $5.
714/MMBtu in December, after the contract rose nearly 12 percent
on Monday.

Oil prices closed higher on Tuesday after reports that Saudi Arabia had shared intelligence with the United States warning Iran of possible attacks on Saudi targets
.
The news increases the likelihood of
disruption to the oil-rich Middle East oil market.

In response to the warning, the United States, Saudi Arabia and several neighboring countries have raised the alert level
of their own troops.
Saudi officials were quoted as saying Iran was preparing to launch attacks on Saudi Arabia and Erbil in Iraq to divert attention
from the country's domestic protests that began in September.

Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said oil prices have moved higher
.
News reports that the U.
S.
is on high alert and a possible Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia "definitely add to the risk factor.
"
"It's sure to make you miss out on all the [U.
S.
] strategic petroleum reserve oil
that we sell.
"

According to the front-month contract, WTI crude rose 8.
9% in October and Brent rose 7.
8%, partly due to the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) and its Russia-led allies to cut production by 2 million barrels
per day starting in November.
Given that production is already below target in several member countries, the actual reduction is expected to be about half
that figure.

Obviously, OPEC+'s announced production cuts have stabilized the oil market
to some extent.
However, the degree of stability of this action in the medium and long term will really depend on the full impact of the EU ban on Russian oil," which will come into force on crude oil on December 5 and refined products on February 5, Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING, said
in a note.

The U.
S.
Energy Information Administration will release its weekly U.
S.
oil supply report
on Wednesday morning.
According to S&; A survey conducted by P Global Commodity Insights, analysts on average expect the report to show a reduction in crude oil supply by 1.
6 million barrels, gasoline supply by 1.
9 million barrels and distillate supply by 1 million barrels
.