Crude oil slips lower; underlying tone positive on Middle East tensions
Investing.com — Oil prices slipped lower Monday, consolidating after recent hefty gains as the conflict in the Middle East continued to raise concerns about disruptions in supply from the world’s biggest oil producing region.
By 09:20 ET (13.20 GMT), the U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $86.19 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.2% to $90.73.
Last week saw both benchmarks climbing nearly 6% on Friday, posting their highest daily percentage gains since April. For the week, Brent advanced 7.5% while WTI climbed 5.9%.
Markets are on edge, looking for any signs of the Israel-Hamas war sparking a broader conflict in the Middle East, potentially hitting production in this key region.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to “demolish Hamas,” as his troops prepared for a ground assault on the Gaza strip, in the wake of a series of deadly strikes by the Palestine militant group Hamas against Israeli border towns.
“We are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a statement Sunday, while Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that Tehran could not simply stay an observer of the crisis if “the Zionist aggressions do not stop.”
Iran is the world’s fifth-largest producer of oil, and the U.S. could tighten sanctions against Tehran if it was to offer overt assistance to Hamas.
“Uncertainty and concern over the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war continue to support the oil market. In recent days, Iran has warned about the risk of a wider conflict, while there are reports that Saudi Arabia has frozen talks to normalize relations with Israel,” said analysts at ING, in a note.
Providing a further boost to the market was
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