Oil prices rose on Thursday (October 22, 2026) as more attacks by the Houthis in Saudi Arabia prompted the United States to order some diplomats and family members to leave its missions in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St. On Wednesday (October 21, 2026), Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the Financial Times that Iran was fully prepared to defend itself and President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media the U.S. could not expect dialogue while blockading and threatening Iran. Petersburg on Wednesday (October 21, 2026) for talks on ending the war in Ukraine amid Washington’s latest push to stop Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two.
U.S. crude stocks fell by 3.06 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday (October 21, 2026), compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for an 820,000-barrel draw. The Trump administration is offering to loan up to nearly a third of the 1-million-barrel U.S. emergency heating oil reserve, the Department of Energy said on Wednesday (October 21, 2026), seeking to contain prices that have surged on diesel shortages due to the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
Putin had agreed to resume U.S.-mediated peace talks with Ukraine as soon as next month.
The Kremlin said Mr. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he supported the talks and hoped they would start as soon as possible.
