Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday, 4 November, as results from the United States midterm elections showed Democrats securing a majority in both chambers of Congress — a outcome that President Donald Trump attributed to the ongoing conflict in Iran and the rising cost of living for American citizens.

The election result leaves Trump more constrained in the second half of his term, requiring him to negotiate key policy decisions with a Democratic-controlled legislature.

In this context, West Texas Intermediate, the North American crude benchmark, was down 0.22% at $95.88 per barrel, while North Sea Brent, the European benchmark, fell 0.29% to $103.30 per barrel.

Crude oil had already recorded sharp losses over the two preceding sessions, with Brent dropping from around $118 per barrel to $104, after both the United States and Iran signalled greater openness to future negotiations aimed at ending the conflict that has been unfolding across the Middle East for several months. A Democratic majority in Congress is widely expected to intensify pressure on the White House to reach a settlement between the two parties.

“The elections matter only as a calendar milestone, potentially influencing the White House’s strategy toward Iran,” said Pavel Molchanov, analyst at Raymond James & Associates, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Molchanov nonetheless argued that the Trump administration could actually have “greater room for manoeuvre” in its upcoming decisions, given that the political impact of rising oil and fuel prices had already been largely absorbed by public opinion before the elections — a shift that ultimately contributed to the Democratic swing in Congress.