MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The global oil market responded rather sharply to escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak said.
"As we see, the market has responded rather sharply during the last two days - the oil price gained several percent. I think in general this is not the fluctuation that could have been. This is because the conflict in the Middle East is already partly recognized in the price overall," Novak said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Geopolitical factors in any case influence prices, the deputy prime minister said. "The market responses, in the first instance, to the fact that the market supply may go down as a result of the conflict or hostilities, because this region is actually among the ones producing the significant quantity of oil," Novak noted.