Oil is up in early morning trade as investors remain on their toes on the first of a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. The dollar is trending lower before the Fed meeting, which is pushing crude prices higher. Gold too is higher as voters head to the polls for the U.S. midterm elections, which may bring considerable change not only to the political, but also the economic landscape of the nation with most pundits expecting Republicans to gain control of the House of Representatives. At 0750 ET, Brent crude is up 0.7% at $85.19 a barrel, while light sweet crude is up 0.4% at $83.24 a barrel, and natural gas is up 0.7% at $3.86 a million British thermal units. Gold is up 0.4% at $1,356.50 an ounce, while silver is up 0.6% at $24.71 an ounce, and copper is up 0.2% at $3.79 a pound. BP plc ( BP ) is up over 1% pre-market on the NYSE as third quarter profit beat analysts' expectations. The oil giant posted net income of $5.5 billion excluding one-time items and inventory changes, which was above the $4.6 billion consensus reached by analysts polled by Bloomberg. ConocoPhillips Inc ( COP ) plans to start drilling off northwest Australia in March 2011. In a filing with the Australian Environment Department, the company said the plan consists of drilling for five to eight wells int he Browse Basin over a two-year period. Energy explorer W&T Offshore Inc ( WTI ) reported third quarter results that beat analysts' forecasts on the back of higher prices and lower expenses. Shares are flat pre-market. Exxon Mobil Corp's ( XOM ) Nigerian unit Mobil Producing Nigeria discovered gas in the Awawa Field as the company looks to supply power to the Nigerian market. In the mining sector, Newmont Mining Corp ( NEM ) is up nearly 2% as it reported third quarter profit rising to $537 million, or $1.07 a share, from $388 million, or 79 cents a share a year ago. Sales rose 27% to $2.6 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research had expected earnings of 95 cents a share on sales of $2.34 billion.

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