CRUDE WRAP: WTI (X6) SETTLES USD 0.40 HIGHER AT USD 94.14/BBL; BRENT (Z6) SETTLES USD 0.96 LOWER AT USD 105.69/BBL

The crude complex was choppy on Tuesday, as Middle East headlines were plentiful, and show no signs of abating. Saudi-Houthi tensions remain high, with the Saudi-led coalition warning citizens to evacuate Sana’a, the location of a Yemen Petroleum Company facility. In response, the Houthis threatened to strike Aramco facilities, with in later trade sources saying loud booms were heard in Dhahran, in the vicinity of Saudi Aramco HQ. On this, Trump repeated that the Houthis are behaving very badly and will make a decision on Iran very soon. On the supply footing from Saudi, benchmarks saw some pressure following the OPEC MOMR for October, whereby Saudi Arabia produced 8.372mln bpd of crude in September, up from 6.238mln bpd in August.

Moving to Iran and the US, where tensions remain very high, as expected, upside was seen as reports circulated that Netanyahu spoke with Trump last week about renewing the war on Iran, and discussed a potential joint US-Israeli operation that would hit military and nuclear targets. Note, the call about the possible attack took place before Trump said he would not strike Iran ahead of the midterms. Moreover, Iran's Nadaja stated that "a violating oil tanker caught fire in the eastern Strait of Hormuz".

For the record, WTI traded between USD 91.70-94.70/bbl and Brent 101.23-103.49/bbl. In the weekly data, stocks of crude oil in the US SPR were unchanged at 283mln bbls last week, remaining at the lowest level since October 1982. Ahead, weekly private inventory metrics await after-hours.