Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban moved downward on Monday, as clashes in the Middle East failed to cause significant supply disruptions.

The benchmarks surged last week on supply worries as the Iran-Israel conflict escalated, with the market fearing that Iran could close a critical waterway.

The market continues to closely monitor the development, after the U.S. over the weekend joined Israel in attacking Iran’s key nuclear sites.

Iran said on Monday that the U.S. attack expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called U.S. President Donald Trump a “gambler” for joining Israel’s military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

Japan’s Nippon Yusen and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said on Monday they have instructed their vessels to minimise the time spent in the Gulf as they continue to transit the Strait of Hormuz following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, one of the most influential men in Russia’s energy sector, said on Saturday that China was seeking complete energy independence and that in the foreseeable future it could become a major energy exporter.

India’s crude oil imports in May reached a record high of 23.32 million metric tons, up 9.8% month-on-month, government data showed on Monday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday urged the European Union to take a proposed ban on Russian energy off the agenda due to an expected rise in energy prices following the US bombing of Iran.
Source: Reuters