• US crude oil prices extended last week’s gains as tensions in the Middle East continued to weigh on the market.
• Futures are trading higher even though OPEC has lowered its demand forecast partly because of economic uncertainty in China.

The price of U.S. crude oil exceeded $77 a barrel on Monday, rising for the fifth straight day, as the Pentagon deployed more troops to the Middle East ahead of an Iranian attack on Israel.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the deployment of a carrier strike group, including F-35 fighter jets, to speed up their deployment to the region. Austin also ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East.

Here are Monday’s energy prices:

• West Texas Intermediate September contract: $77.69 per barrel, up 85 cents or 1.11%. U.S. crude oil has gained 8.4% since the beginning of the year.
• Brent October contract: $80.37 per barrel, up 74 cents or 0.93%. The global benchmark is up 4.3% year-to-date.
• RBOB September gasoline contract: $2.41 per barrel, up more than 2 cents, or 1.13%. Gasoline prices have risen about 15% since the beginning of the year.
• Natural gas September contract: $2.23 per thousand cubic feet, up 9 cents or 4.39%. Since the beginning of the year, the price of gas has fallen by almost 11%.

Israel has been preparing for attacks by Iran and the Hezbollah militia for nearly two weeks since the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran.

“We view allocation to oil and gold as the most important means of hedging portfolios against a further escalation of geopolitical tensions,” UBS analysts told their clients in a research note on Monday.

The price of US crude oil is rising even though OPEC has lowered its forecast for global demand growth by 135,000 barrels per day, citing declining consumption in China.

“Oil markets have reacted sharply to increased geopolitical risk, even though OPEC has raised some concerns about demand growth,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. However, he said the market was still heading for a deficit due to falling inventories.

U.S. crude oil prices closed more than 4% higher last week, ending a four-week decline, as the stock market recovered most of its losses from a sudden sell-off on rising fears of a recession and after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates slightly.