Israel-Hamas war can push oil to $150 a barrel,World Bank

The World Bank said a prolonged Israel-Hamas conflict could drive big rises in energy and food prices in a “dual shock” for commodity markets still reeling from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a worst-case scenario, global oil supply could shrink by 6mn to 8mn barrels a day, sending prices to between $140 and $157 a barrel, if leading Arab producers such as Saudi Arabia moved to cut exports.

Under small and medium disruption scenarios, prices could hit $102 to $121 a barrel, the report added. Current global oil demand is about 102mn b/d.

The World Bank said the global economy was in a better position to withstand a supply shock than in October 1973, when Arab members of Opec cut exports to the US and other countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur war, quadrupling crude prices.

Currently,the oil prices are on downward trend.Richard Bronze, a consultant at Energy Aspects believes that the biggest reason for the declines was likely to be “market concerns about the health of the global economy and the implications for oil demand.The signs were clear as oil demands is reduced globally especially in Europe.