Oil prices took a sharp dive on Tuesday, tumbling over 5% in morning trading in New York, as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East slightly eased after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pledged that Iran's crude oil infrastructure would be spared from any potential retaliatory strikes.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the U.S. benchmark, tracked by the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), nosedived to $70 per barrel, down more than 5% as of 10 a.m. ET. This marks the steepest one-day decline in over a year.
The selloff followed a Monday report from The Washington Post that said that Netanyahu assured the Biden administration that Israel would avoid targeting Iranian oil and nuclear facilities in any retaliatory military actions.
The assurance suggested a narrower scope of potential conflict, reducing fears of widespread supply shocks in the global oil market.
Market analysts had previously warned that an Israeli strike on Iran’s oil infrastructure could send crude prices skyrocketing by $20 per barrel, highlighting concerns that Tehran would retaliate by attacking oil installations throughout the Gulf region, ...
