SINGAPORE  - Oil prices were little moved on Monday as investors weighed how U.S. and Iranian threats ‌to target energy facilities that could escalate the war stack up against the release of millions of barrels of seaborne Iranian oil to global markets after ​Washington temporarily removed sanctions.

Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $112.18 a barrel by 0202 GMT after settling on Friday at their highest since July 2022. U.S. ​West Texas ​Intermediate was at $98.75 a barrel, up 52 cents, after the previous session's gain of 2.27%.

The spread of more than $13 a barrel between Brent and WTI is the widest in years.

Oil prices were falling temporarily due to low liquidity ⁠and traders taking profit in the short term, said Michael McCarthy, CEO of online trading platform Moomoo Australia.

"Momentum clearly favours further upside, and a test of the recent highs near $120 is a realistic scenario this week."

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if it did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, barely a day after he talked about "winding down" ​the war, now in ‌its fourth week.

Iran's ⁠Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer ⁠Qalibaf wrote on X that critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Middle East could be "irreversibly destroyed" if Iranian power plants were attacked.

"It clearly means ​more escalation, which means higher oil prices. Some are incorrectly thinking, however, that Iran may cave," said ‌Amrita Sen, founder of Energy Aspects.

"Trump is trying to show he can out-escalate ⁠and that way ends in scorched earth for Gulf infrastructure."

The crisis in the Middle East is "very severe" and worse than the two oil shocks of the 1970s put together, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said on Monday.

Oil prices largely stabilised on Monday after swinging widely in volatile trade earlier.

"I think the reason that oil prices haven't kept soaring is because traders are asking themselves the question - what if the ultimatum works?" said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at brokerage KCM Trade.

"So, I think markets are not wanting to get too far ahead of themselves regarding spiking oil prices, in case the Strait of Hormuz does in fact re-open, in response to Trump's strategic gamble with this ultimatum."

The war has damaged major energy facilities in ‌the Gulf and nearly halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 20% ⁠of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

Analysts estimated a loss of 7 million ​to 10 million barrels per day of oil production in the Middle East.

Iraq has declared force majeure on all oilfields developed by foreign oil companies, three energy officials said.

Crude production at Basra Oil Company has been cut to 900,000 bpd from 3.3 million bpd, Iraqi Oil ​Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in ‌a statement issued by his ministry.

Indian refiners plan to resume buying Iranian oil while refiners elsewhere ⁠in Asia are examining such a move, traders have ​said.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Chris Reese, Jamie Freed and Clarence Fernandez)