Oil prices surged nearly 6 on Friday
Israel vows to demolish Hamas, prepares move on Gaza
US Secretary of State Blinken heads to Israel on Monday

TOKYO, Oct 16 Reuters Oil prices slipped on Monday after surging last week, with investors waiting to see if the IsraelHamas conflict draws in other countries a development that would potentially drive up prices further and deal a fresh blow to the global economy.

Brent futures were last down 33 cents, or 0.4, at 90.56 per barrel at 0645 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude fell 0.3 or 26 cents to 87.43 a barrel.

Both benchmarks climbed nearly 6 on Friday, posting their highest daily percentage gains since April, as investors priced in the possibility of a wider Middle East conflict.

For the week, Brent advanced 7.5 while WTI climbed 5.9.

Investors are trying to figure out the impact of the conflict while a largescale ground assault has not begun after the 24hour deadline that Israel first notified residents of the northern half of Gaza to flee to the south, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.

The impact that may involve oilproducing countries has been factored into the prices to some extent, but if an actual ground invasion were to occur and have an impact on oil supply, the prices could easily exceed 100 a barrel, he said.

The conflict in the Middle East has had little impact on global oil and gas supplies, and Israel is not a big producer.

But the war between…