What is happening to oil? Oil remaining calm despite conflict in West Asia perhaps indicates that market has realised that global push to renewables is much stronger now

It’s beginning to look like oil is less and less a critical commodity.

Brent spiked by 30% from around $100 a barrel when Russia invaded Ukraine (February 24, 2022) and became even more volatile than usual, but by August it had subsided to below $100, and has continued to fall since then. Indeed, even the Hamas attack on Israel (October 7, 2023), with many pundits expecting a much wider escalation in the Middle East, has not had any material impact—oil rose by less than 0.5% the day following the attack and, again, has fallen since then and currently trading at under $78 a barrel.