Brent crude fell below $102 per barrel on Friday after two sessions of gains as investors assessed the risk that renewed U.S.-Iran conflict could disrupt Middle East energy supplies. The Pentagon was considering deploying another aircraft carrier and 10,000 sailors and Marines to the Persian Gulf, while Donald Trump reportedly told aides he expected bombing of Iran to resume after the November midterm elections. At least three tankers were attacked this week while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran and its Houthi allies targeted refineries across the region. Crude flows had largely recovered to prewar levels, but markets questioned whether that recovery could continue without a lasting agreement. Chinese refiners reportedly suspended fuel exports beyond Hong Kong and Macau in October, tightening international diesel, jet-fuel and gasoline markets already affected by reduced Russian exports and possible U.S. fuel-shipment restrictions. Saudi Arabia restored its East-West Pipeline and resumed tanker loadings from Yanbu, while September Gulf crude shipments averaged 16.328 million barrels a day, about 3.2 million below the February baseline. Higher fuel costs lifted inflation expectations, government borrowing yields and uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy, while investors watched U.S. non-farm payrolls and global markets for further signals.