Oil prices eased in Asian trade Monday yet remained supported because of political turmoil around the world. Investors closely watched ongoing geopolitical crisis between Moscow and the West and escalating Iran pressure.
Fears that conflicts and rising tensions in the Ukraine and the Middle East could disrupt supplies sent oil prices higher last week.
- On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Crude Oil lost 0.42% to trade at $ 102.70 a barrel
- On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent Oil was at $ 106.91 a barrel, down by 0.31%
Last week, The United States announced further sanctions on Russia, including against Russia’s largest oil company, over Russia’s support of rebels in Ukraine.
The news was shortly followed by the shooting down of a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane in eastern Ukraine Thursday. The U.S. leveled its most-explicit allegations yet of Russia`s involvement in the downing of Malaysia plane.
Oil spiked over raising concerns that a wider conflict or further sanctions could disrupt supplies from Russia, the world’s biggest crude exporter outside of OPEC.
In other NYMEX trading:
- NYMEX Gasoline gained 0.16% to trade at $ 286.49
- NYMEX Heating Oil added 0.14% to trade at $ 284.93
- NYMEX Natural Gas dropped 1.92% to $ 3.875
In other signs of heightened tensions in the Middle East, Israel launched a ground offensive into Gaza, intensifying turmoil in the world’s most important oil-producing region.
The first major ground battle in two weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting on Sunday killed at least 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers.
On Monday, Israeli tanks killed at least 10 Palestinian after they crossed the border from Gaza through two tunnels, the Israeli military.
Also raising supply fears, Iran was facing new Western pressure to make concessions over its atomic activities.