|
Brent crude futures were down 49 cents at $77.80 a barrel by
1051 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 51 cents to
to $72.17.
Several tanker owners steered clear of the Red Sea and multiple
tankers changed course on Friday after U.S. and Britain launched
strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen after the Iran-backed
group's attacks on shipping in response to Israel's war against
Hamas in Gaza.
The conflict has also held up at least four liquefied natural
gas tankers travelling in the area.
"The realisation that oil supply has not been adversely impacted
is leading last week's bulls to take profit, with the move down
somewhat exacerbated by a slightly stronger dollar," said Tamas
Varga of oil broker PVM.
On Sunday the Houthi militia threatened a "strong and effective
response" after the United States carried out another strike
overnight. The U.S. later said it shot down a missile fired at
one of its ships from Yemen.
"As the Middle East conflict is currently not affecting oil
production, the geopolitical risk premium priced in oil prices
now appears modest based on the implied volatility of options,"
Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
There have been no oil supply losses so far, but the shipping
disruption is indirectly tightening the market by keeping 35
million barrels at sea owing to longer journeys shippers have to
take to avoid the Red Sea, Citi analysts wrote.
In Libya, people protesting against perceived corruption
threatened to shut down two more oil and gas facilities after
shutting the 300,000 barrel per day Sharara field on Jan. 7.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover, Florence Tan and Emily ChowEditing
by David Goodman)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
