World oil prices fall to lowest in a month, Brent below $100

World oil prices have fallen sharply. After President Donald Trump's Republican Party suffered a major defeat in the United States midterm elections, the price of international benchmark Brent crude fell by more than 4 percent to below $100 a barrel.

At around 10:15pm on Wednesday, Brent crude was down 4.7 percent at $98.76 a barrel. It was the first time since the start of October that the international oil price had fallen below $100.

At the same time, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude benchmark, also fell 4.5 percent to $91.73 a barrel.

A report by Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera said share prices rose sharply in world markets after the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress in the US midterm elections, easing some of the uncertainty over the political situation.

All three main US stock market indexes on Wall Street were higher. The rise was driven by higher share prices in the communication services, consumer goods and technology sectors. Energy shares, however, saw the biggest falls.

President Donald Trump has acknowledged that the US war against Iran played a role in the Republican Party's major defeat in the midterm elections.