The fighting intensified in the Middle East after the Lebanese Hezbollah group fired missiles at Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, on Monday, while Israel appears to be preparing to expand its ground incursion into southern Lebanon, a year after the attack launched by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in… Gaza.
Update prices
Brent crude futures fell 23 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $80.70 a barrel by 0029 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $76.94 per barrel, according to Reuters data.
Crude oil futures jumped by more than three percent on Monday to reach their highest levels since late August, reinforcing last week’s upward rally that saw contracts rise by more than eight percent in the largest weekly gains in more than a year.
Prices began to rise after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel on October 1. Israel vowed to respond and said it was considering its options and considered Iranian oil facilities a potential target.
However, some analysts believe that an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure is unlikely, and noted that oil prices could face significant downward pressure if Israel focuses on any other target.
Analysts at ANZ Bank pointed out on Friday that even if an attack targeted Iranian oil facilities, there is seven million barrels per day of spare supply capacity within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to compensate for the loss of its oil production.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton intensified into a Category 5 storm on its way to the US state of Florida, after forcing at least one oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States to close yesterday, Monday.
US crude oil inventories are expected to rise by 1.9 million barrels in the week ending October 4, according to a preliminary poll conducted by Reuters.
The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to publish its report on US inventories at 2030 GMT on Tuesday, followed by the official report from the Energy Information Administration at 1430 GMT on Wednesday.
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