Oil prices pull back after surging 6% last week

Oil futures fell Monday, pulling back after a surge that saw both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude end last week at their highs for February as Middle East tensions rose.

Price moves

• West Texas Intermediate crude
  CL00,
  -0.98%
  for March delivery
  CL.1,
  -0.98%

  CLH24,
  -0.98%
  fell 84 cents, or 1.1%, to $76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

• April Brent crude
  BRN00,
  -1.07%

  BRNJ24,
  -1.07%,
  the global benchmark, was off 91 cents, or 1.1%, at $81.28 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Market drivers

Both Brent and WTI rose more than 6% last week, with gains tied to worries over the potential escalation of the Israel-Hamas war. But worries appeared to ease somewhat to begin the week, Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson, commodities strategists at ING, said in a note.