Brent crude, the top global price benchmark, fell as low as $76.05 in midmorning but, after rising and falling for much of the day, closed past $77 Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down to $72.94, a 58-cent drop.
Markets saw a wider decline Monday, including a thousand-point tumble in the Dow and an overall 3 percent market decline. The drop has been attributed to multiple factors, including Friday’s lukewarm jobs report for July and an increase in the unemployment rate, triggering fears of a broader economic slowdown. The report came shortly after the Federal Reserve declined to cut interest rates even after inflation fell.
In the meantime, oil prices have been minimally receptive to the tensions in the Middle East since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the subsequent war in Gaza. However, last week Israel assassinated a top Hamas leader on Iranian soil, prompting Iranian leaders to vow retaliation.
That retaliation could come as early as Monday, but it’s unlikely to cause longer-term shocks without a broader disruption in the oil supply. Earlier this year, Iran conducted its first non-proxy strike against Israel in response to an Israeli strike on an Iranian.
Read more at TheHill.com.
