Brent crude rose above $116 a barrel on Wednesday, moving closer to its highest level since June 2022, as escalating Middle East hostilities heightened concerns about supply disruptions. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Aden airport and claimed a missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, which has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, although Saudi authorities had not confirmed the reported refinery attack. Also, there are increased fears that the US could resume military operations against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, potentially intensifying regional instability and threatening oil flows. Meanwhile, Qatari mediators presented Tehran with a new draft proposal to end the war involving the US and Israel. However, an Iranian official dismissed the ideas as unacceptable, leaving the prospects for a settlement uncertain. On the data front, US crude inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended October 23, broadly matching industry estimates.