Israel-Hamas conflict: India's hope of respite in oil prices dashed

The Indian crude oil basket, a mix of Gulf sour and Brent sweet grades, averaged $93.54 a barrel last month

The ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict has disrupted India’s efforts to gain from a recent fall in crude oil prices. Since Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, petroleum has become costlier by around $5 per barrel, threatening to stoke prices and impact growth.
 

Brent crude was trading at $89.8 per barrel on Monday (9.15 pm IST), up over 4 per cent, thwarting India’s anticipation of a period of declining oil prices — after the leading global petroleum benchmark declined by around 11 per cent last week.

The price of Brent crude had collapsed by around $12 per barrel -- from $96.6