Oil jumps after Democrats sweep Congress

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2026 (GoldSquawk) - Oil rose sharply after Democrats swept Congress, with Brent up 4.0% at $98.38 a barrel and WTI up 2.9% at $90.65 as investors reassessed what the election result could mean for the broader political backdrop around the Iran war, according to OilPrice.com and Reuters.

For traders, the rebound mattered because it followed Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026's heavy washout and came before the next official U.S. petroleum report on Nov. 12, leaving politics rather than fresh weekly inventory data at the center of price action, Reuters and the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

Congress outcome lifts crude after selloff

AP reported that Democrats won control of Congress, while President Donald Trump later acknowledged that the Iran war affected the midterm elections and that voters were frustrated by surging gasoline prices tied to the conflict.

Reuters said crude's earlier drop reflected investors trying to assess the implications of Democrats' resounding sweep, with markets reading the result as reducing the risk of further U.S. escalation in the Iran war and shrinking the war-risk premium in crude.

On Nov. 4, NYMEX WTI settled at $88.23 a barrel, down $7.93, while ICE Brent settled at $94.66, down $9.05.

Reuters said that selloff left Brent below $100 a barrel for the first time since September and put Brent and WTI on course for their biggest weekly decline since April 2020.

By Nov. 5, part of that drop had reversed, with NYMEX WTI settling at $90.55, up $2.32, and ICE Brent settling at $98.30, up $3.64.

Wider post-election repositioning

Reuters reported that investors bought stocks, bonds, non-dollar currencies and gold after Democrats won both houses of Congress, placing the oil move inside a wider cross-asset reaction to the election result.

OilPrice.com said prices rose for the first time in four sessions after the previous day's slump, and added that investors expected a Democratic-controlled Congress to help protect clean-energy incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Reuters also said Brent rose nearly $3 as investors weighed the future course of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran after Trump's party suffered heavy midterm losses, while Eurasia Group said further escalation could push Brent into a $110-$125 a barrel range.

In its September Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency forecast world oil demand would decline by 2.5 million barrels a day in 2026, citing the continued Iran negotiations impasse.

Next marker for traders

With the next official U.S. weekly petroleum data release scheduled for Nov. 12, the next near-term macro catalyst on Friday is the U.S. labor report due at 13:30 UTC, including forecasts for 65,000 non-farm payrolls growth, a 4.2% unemployment rate and 0.3% monthly average hourly earnings.

Later on Nov. 6, NYMEX WTI traded as high as $92.25 at 03:45 UTC and was last at $91.35 at 07:14 UTC.