Morning edition · Tuesday, 20 October 2026
WTI's November contract expires; Brent waits near $110
Monday's settlements split: US crude rose $2.25 and Brent slipped 31 cents. European gas held near €88 and diesel near $1,470 a tonne. The expiry date matters more than the headlines.
Monday’s settlements went in opposite directions. WTI for November delivery rose $2.25, or 2.22%, to $103.66 a barrel on Nymex. Brent for December fell 31 cents to $109.55 on ICE1. Brent had traded as high as $110.70 during the session, its highest level since 20 May2.
The US number needs care. The November WTI contract expires today2. At 02:10 Berlin time it was quoted at $103.32, while the more active December contract was at $98.082. Desk arithmetic: that is a gap of about $5.24 between two consecutive months of the same crude. A gap that wide usually means oil is scarce right now, not in December. By 04:20 Berlin, Brent was 21 cents higher at $109.763.
Two stories are pulling on the price. On one side is the US executive order waiving Russia-related sanctions and tariffs. On the other are new Houthi claims of attacks on Saudi energy sites, which Saudi authorities had not confirmed3. Goldman Sachs has set out scenarios with oil at $120 if attacks on shipping escalate and $80 if exports return to normal3. Those are scenarios, not forecasts, and the bank presents them that way.
European gas was calmer. The Dutch TTF benchmark ended Monday virtually flat at €87.88 per megawatt-hour, still up about 210% on the year4. ICE low-sulphur gasoil, Europe’s diesel and heating-oil benchmark, was at $1,470 a tonne at 04:46 Berlin5. For your fuel bill, gasoil is the price to watch, because it arrives with a delivery date.
Nothing here is advice; these are published prices with their times.
What to watch
- WTI November expiry today: in the early quote, the gap between November and December was more than $52.
- Weekly US inventory data; a preliminary Reuters poll expects crude and product stocks to have fallen3.
- German producer prices at 08:00 Berlin, the first official reading of how September's energy costs reached factory gates.
Price headlines last a day, but every futures contract has an expiry date.
Sources
- Crude futures settle mixed — Xinhua, 20 Oct 2026.
- Oil prices ease as Russia sanctions relief offsets Gulf supply risks — Reuters via Business Standard, 20 Oct 2026.
- Oil Price Today (October 20): Crude oil nears $110 again as fresh attacks outweigh easing Russian sanctions — The Economic Times, 20 Oct 2026.
- European gas pauses near 2022 highs; Lagarde warns on energy price pass-through — World Ports Organization, 20 Oct 2026.
- ICE Gasoil (Rotterdam) Price — OilPriceAPI, 20 Oct 2026.
Every figure in this piece traces to a source above or to the desk’s own arithmetic on those sources, marked as such. Quotations are short and attributed. Spot an error? Write to the desk; corrections are logged on the method page.
Commentary for information only. Not investment, legal, tax, medical or political advice. Not an offer or solicitation. Analysis may be incomplete or wrong. Charts show published public data, not a trading feed; binding numbers live with the institutions that publish them.