Oil prices retreat

If oil prices are any measure, Iran just flinched.

- By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The price of oil tumbled Monday afternoon in an historical move as traders bet that Iran’s decision to bomb a United States (US) base in Qatar signals it is not planning to do the one thing that could really hurt America: Shut down the flow of oil by attacking crude shipments.

“When the response comes and it is muted, oil drops,” said Tom Kloza, chief market strategist at consultancy Turner Mason & Co., calling the limited Iran response far short of what many traders feared. “This rivals some of the historic selloffs.”

There’s still plenty Iran could do to push prices back up, and the markets could be getting it all wrong, But oil analysts say there are plenty of reasons fear has receded.

The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark, fell 7.2 percent to $68.51 per barrel in regular trading on Monday, June 23, after Iran announced a missile attack on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which the US military uses. Traders were relieved because Iran said it had matched the number of bombs dropped by the US on Iranian nuclear sites this weekend, a possible sign of a desire to deescalate the conflict.