Trump touts oil price dip in closing speech

President Trump on Monday touted a new drop in oil prices during his closing pitch to voters ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $104 Monday afternoon, down from $112 earlier in the day. U.S. benchmark WTI was trading at about $96 per barrel, down from nearly $103.

The price drop came amid some signs of positivity in talks with Iran. Tehran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. agreed to meet certain conditions, but it is unclear if the U.S. will meet those conditions. There has also been talk in Washington of new strikes on Iran after the midterm elections.

The war has periodically seen closures of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane, as well as higher costs to transport oil even when ships have been allowed to pass through. Damage to oil infrastructure in that conflict and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have also put upward pressure on prices.

“Oil today is down $10,” Trump said Monday while delivering his closing midterm remarks at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington.

“It’s going to go down a lot further because we’re winning with Iran, easily winning,” he added.

Trump claimed that the decline was “the biggest drop in oil in history.”

Recent history has seen larger drops; during the COVID-19 pandemic, oil prices on one day briefly sank to about negative $38 per barrel, falling by far more than $10.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, I’m Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:

Democrats running for Senate in Maine, Alaska and New Hampshire are zeroing in on the rising cost of home heating as winter — and Election Day — quickly approach.

U.S. manufacturing activity expanded slightly in October, marking 10 straight months of growth leading into the midterms.

Rising cancer rates and their potential link to farm pollution are causing a crisis in Iowa, throwing uncertainty into the midterm elections in a state that has shifted ruby-red in recent years.

The importance of AI data centers is growing this election cycle as the fight over the infrastructure’s costs and environmental impacts may be threatening Republicans in battleground states like Texas and Ohio.

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics :

Tribal Leaders Warned Border Wall Construction Would Disturb Native American Remains. They Were Right. ( ProPublica )

A Top Trump Appointee Was Ordered To Remove An Unauthorized Cabin From Public Land. Two Years Later, It’s Still There. ( Public Domain / High Country News )

Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:

Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) is forecasting Senate races in Texas, Alaska and Maine will flip toward Democrats on Tuesday, enough to put the party in a prime position of winning back the upper chamber. Read more

Political analyst Nate Silver predicted Sunday that a “blue tsunami” is on the horizon. Read more