Oil Prices Down at Midday; Calming Expected in Middle East

October 13, 2000 7:35 AM, EDT

Crude oil prices dropped for the first time in six sessions in Friday’s trading, due in part to expectations that tensions in the Middle East will begin to calm somewhat, Bloomberg reports.

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U.S. crude fell as much as 92 cents to $35.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent crude fell as much as 79 cents to $33.80 per barrel on London’s International Petroleum Exchange, the report said.

Meanwhile, U.S. financial markets showed solid strength Friday morning after Thursday’s sharp decline in stock prices and follow-up declines on markets overseas.

After explosions – both thought to be terrorist attacks – rocked a U.S. Navy ship and the British Embassy in Yemen in the past two days, oil prices surged in response on both exchanges. However, oil has taken a downswing on reports that the United States and United Nations will bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders to a summit meeting in hopes of ending the Mideast tensions, Bloomberg noted.

More relief came to the oil market in reports that production from Arab nations is not likely to be disrupted by the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts and other Middle East violence, according to another Bloomberg report. None of the countries in that oil-rich region has expressed plans to disrupt supplies and no changes in export levels have been reported, the story said.