Oil prices fall as weak global demand overtakes risk of wider war in Middle East

abcnews.go.com:

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared.

Prices for crude spiked globally on October 2 after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatened to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.

Iran is the world’s 7th largest oil producer, but a wider conflict in the Middle East could have an impact for some of the world’s largest energy producers in the region.

With many seeing that threat diminishing, at least in the near term, the price of benchmark U.S. crude and Brent crude, the international benchmark, tumbled 6% Monday. U.S. crude fell well below $70 per barrel.

The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel as well as surface-to-air missile sites.

Here's a look at the current situation and the outlook for oil and gas prices:

The price for U.S. benchmark crude tumbled 6% Monday after a weekend retaliatory strike by Israel on Iran targeted military sites rather than the oilfields of the world's seventh largest producer of crude.

That puts the price of a barrel of U.S. crude well under $70 after it jumped above $77 earlier this month. Oil and gasoline prices are each down sharply from their yearly highs in April. A gallon of gas at more than half the pumps in the U.S. can be had for less than $3, according to energy analysts.

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