Despite the ongoing ‘war’ — if one is ready to call it a ‘war’ and not a genocide — in the Middle East, oil prices have largely remained unaffected. Last Friday, as the week approached its end, oil prices settled more than two per cent lower, with Brent crude futures down $1.92 or 2.3pc to $84.89 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also fell $1.95, or 2.4pc to $80.51 a barrel. On a