OREANDA-NEWS The price of futures contracts for December deliveries of the North Sea Brent crude oil decreased by 2.6 percent and reached the level of $ 88.1 per barrel. This is evidenced by the trading data of the London ICE exchange.

The cost of January supplies of raw materials showed similar dynamics and decreased by 2.67 percent to the closing level of the previous session. Closer to 19:30 Moscow time, the quotes dropped to the level of 86.8 dollars per barrel. In turn, the value of February futures by this point had decreased by almost 2.6 percent and amounted to 86.04 dollars.

Analysts attributed this dynamic to a smaller-than-expected invasion of the Israeli armed forces into the Gaza Strip as part of the fight against representatives of the Palestinian radical group Hamas. The ground operation of the IDF was not so massive, which reduced the level of concern of commodity investors and traders, said former Merrill Lynch trader Tom Essay. However, according to him, the situation in the Middle East will continue to remain tense in the near future.

Earlier, Ana Boata, Head of Economic Research at Allianz Trade, warned about the risks of a slowdown in the global economy from the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. According to her, in the event of an escalation of hostilities in the region, global GDP may face a recession. This will be facilitated by the high probability of an increase in oil prices up to $ 140 per barrel and increased inflationary pressure.