Oil prices lost more than 1% on Monday as the Middle East conflict’s limited impact on crude output prompted profit taking after oil benchmarks gained 2% last week. The conflict has also held up at least four liquefied natural gas tankers travelling in the area. “The realisation that oil supply has not been adversely impacted is leading last week’s bulls to take profit, with the move down somewhat exacerbated by a slightly stronger dollar,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. On Sunday the Houthi militia threatened a “strong and effective response” after the United States carried out another strike overnight. The economic situation also remains gloomy somewhat and the European Central Bank (ECB) last weekend warned against cutting interest rates too fast.
