Oil prices spiked near $120 per barrel before falling back Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East and pummeling financial markets.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged to $119.50 per barrel early in the day but later was trading near $106 per barrel, up 14%, before the opening bell.
West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the U.S., soared above $119.48 per barrel but fell back closer to $103.
The war’s toll on civilian targets grew as Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant vital to drinking water supplies. Bahrain’s national oil company declared force majeure for its shipments after an Iranian attack set its refinery complex ablaze. The legal declaration releases the company from contractual obligations because of extraordinary circumstances.
Oil prices have surged as the war, now in its second week, ensnares countries and places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf.
Prices moderated after the Financial Times reported that some members of the Group of Seven industrial nations were considering releases of strategic oil reserves to alleviate pressure on the markets.
Read more from the Associated Press.
