BMO sees mixed energy data amid Mideast peace proposal reports

Investing.com -- BMO reported Tuesday that oil prices declined from recent highs after Qatar and Pakistan presented a compromise peace proposal, though subsequent reports questioned the claims.

The Qatar-backed publication Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that Qatari and Pakistani mediators put forward a proposal including concessions from both sides. The proposal includes Iran allowing IAEA inspectors and the U.S. releasing $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

Iran's foreign minister said Tuesday that Tehran's ties with Russia had never been closer after President Trump said Moscow was doing very little to help Iran throughout the conflict. Russia's foreign minister, on his first visit to Tehran since the outbreak of the war, called U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran illegal, according to CBS.

Since October 16, WTI crude rose 0.4% while Brent crude fell 0.6%. Oil prices moved sharply Tuesday as markets reacted to conflicting reports on U.S.-Iran diplomacy. Crude initially rallied before reversing around midday following the unconfirmed Al-Araby report, then recovered some losses after subsequent reports questioned the claims.

For the week ended October 13, WTI rose 8.1% and Brent gained 3.3%.

Ethane prices increased 22.3% this month and approximately 33% over the past three months, despite natural gas rising roughly half that amount. BMO said this puts pressure on U.S. polyethylene producers.

U.S. HDPE pricing remained flat Tuesday and unchanged since BMO's last report on October 16. EU HDPE pricing also remained flat. For the week ended October 20, U.S. HDPE fell 2.8% while EU HDPE dropped 1.5%.

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