Oil prices remain at record levels in anticipation of escalation in relations with Iran following the US and Israeli elections

January Brent crude futures rose 1.5% to $113.4/barrel over the past 7 days (+14.8% month-on-month), supported by uncertainty over Trump's next decisions on Iran.

The elections in Israel did not give Netanyahu's opposition a significant advantage, so the question remains unclear - who will form the government and who will become the next prime minister of Israel and determine further policy towards Iran. The first attempts to form a coalition will begin this week. After the parliamentary elections, the leader of the Yashar party and former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot became one of the main contenders for the post of head of government and a key rival to Netanyahu.

American media outlets are publishing various predictions about new US military strikes on Iran after the midterm elections. Proponent Tucker Carlson even claims that President Trump intends to strike Iran's nuclear weapons development center with nuclear weapons.

According to the WSJ, Israel's Ramon Airfield is currently home to a record number of US Air Force tanker aircraft deployed as part of direct preparation for military operations.

An additional factor putting pressure on oil prices, and especially global diesel prices, was the successful strikes by the Ukrainian military on 4 Russian refineries over the past week, which disabled up to 10% of Russia's oil refining capacity.

Asian trading opened Monday with oil prices down 4% to $109/barrel on hopes that the election results in the US and Israel will prevent Trump from taking military action and force him to continue negotiations and economic pressure on Iran. Friday's stock market decline also weighed on prices.