Oil prices today, August 14, both Brent and WTI crude oil recorded a slight increase, supported by the continued decline in US oil inventories. (Source: Oilprice)

Both oil benchmarks fell nearly $2 on Friday as traders eased concerns about a broader Middle East conflict as Iran remained silent on its threat to retaliate against Israel.

Brent crude fell $1.61, or 1.96%, to $80.69 a barrel. WTI crude fell $1.71, or 2.14%, to $78.35 a barrel.

Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group, said markets had priced in an Iranian attack on Israel within 24 to 48 hours, but it didn’t happen. The market is taking that risk premium out of crude prices, causing oil prices to plummet.

The International Energy Agency has kept its 2024 global oil demand growth forecast at 970,000 barrels per day (bpd) but cut demand for 2025 to 950,000 bpd (down 30,000 bpd from its previous forecast) citing the impact of China's sluggish consumption on economic growth.

OPEC previously forecast world oil demand would grow by 2.11 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, down from the 2.25 million bpd increase expected last month, although the group and its allies aim to increase output from October.

According to Reuters , the escalation of conflict in the Middle East could jeopardize crude supplies from the top oil-producing regions. However, the possibility of an escalation of the conflict appears low as Iran believes that new ceasefire talks with Hamas could prevent retaliation.

The market is waiting for the US consumer price index (PCI) report due out today for important information on inflation.

Limiting the decline in oil prices was data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing that US crude inventories fell by 5.205 million barrels in the week ending August 9, 2.5 times more than analysts expected. Gasoline inventories also fell by 3.689 million barrels.

Domestic retail prices of gasoline on August 14 are as follows:

The above domestic retail price of gasoline and oil was adjusted by the Ministry of Finance - Industry and Trade at the price management session on the afternoon of August 8.

Due to the sharp drop in world oil prices, domestic oil prices have also dropped sharply, marking the fifth consecutive drop.

RON 95-III gasoline decreased the most, by 930 VND/liter, followed by E5 RON 92 gasoline, down 901 VND/liter. Fuel oil price decreased by 858 VND/kg, diesel oil decreased by 737 VND/liter, and kerosene decreased by 684 VND/liter.