The Middle East supplies about a third of the world’s oil and Iran, which backs Hamas and other regional militant groups, said over the weekend that the incursion ‘may force everyone to take action.’
“Concerns that the war may spill over into a broader regional conflict — with the potential to disrupt oil supplies — do raise the upside risks to oil prices. Prices are likely to be supported at the start of the week, although so far there has been no reported disruption in oil supplies,” said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.The outbreak of the conflict has already led to several weeks of sharp swings in intraday trading.
Late last week the US struck some sites in Syria too — a reminder that the world’s largest economy risks becoming embroiled in the conflict.