Markets

In addition to the threat of more sanctions on Russia and Iran, oil futures were supported by the overthrow of Syrian President Assad and by promises from China that fiscal stimulus measures would be increased.

Some market watchers chose to focus on predictions of a supply overhang next year rather than on OPEC+ continuing to keep large volumes off of the market.

The deal between Israel and Hezbollah was seen as minimizing the potential for war-related supply disruptions in the region.

In addition to an escalation in Russia's war on Ukraine, an outage in the Johan Sverdrup oil field had traders fixated on real and potential supply disruptions.

Sharp day-on-day price drops on Monday and Friday were largely spurred by concerns about soft demand, particularly in China.

The biggest day-on-day increase was seen on Monday after OPEC+ opted to postpone its output hike by one more month.

Prices took a sharp dive after Israeli attacks on Iran avoided energy assets but a resurgence of tension related to the Middle East conflict later in the week was not able to bring about a week-on-week increase.

After two weeks of having been unimpressed with economic stimuli announced by China, the bulls took heart from an increase in crude-import quotas issued by Beijing.

The market remained in the grip of the opposing forces of a weak demand outlook and concerns of potential supply disruptions.

The war premium remained largely intact despite a dip on Tuesday due to short-lived hopes for a ceasefire.