Despite the Rise in Mideast Violence, Oil Prices Stay Steady HOUSTON - American drivers filling up their tanks for the Thanksgiving weekend can forget about the impact of the Middle East on oil prices for a day or two. Global oil prices bumped up and down on Wednesday as diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the turmoil in Gaza faltered and then ultimately appeared to succeed. And after eight days of violence, most oil benchmark prices are little changed from where they started. A rise in oil and gasoline prices during a Middle East crisis would come as no surprise, of course, and there is no telling how long a cease-fire will last. But oil experts say there was little chance of a forceful price spike since neither Israel or Gaza are oil-producing areas and global oil supplies are currently plentiful. In addition, while Middle Eastern and many other oil-producing nations are pumping oil at unusually high rates, demand for petroleum products around much of the world has weakened due to the global economic slowdown. "The global market is well supplied," said Chakib Khelil, the former Algerian Energy Minister who also served as president of OPEC. The stocks are pretty good, and the Gulf countries and Saudi Arabia are sustaining supplies while the weak economic situation in Europe is softening demand. Many analysts say that the global Brent crude oil benchmark price, currently around $110 a barrel, would be $20 to $30 lower if it were not for the persistent instability around the Middle East and North Africa, particularly the tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear energy policies. Crude prices have shuddered up and down since tensions between Hamas and Israel spurred an exchange of rocket fire and bombs over the last week, as some traders feared a full-fledged war might bring Iran and other regional powers into the conflict. Prices eased on Tuesday by nearly 2 percent as negotiations for a cease-fire appeared to be gaining traction, but then rebounded about 1 percent after a bus bombing in Tel Aviv on Wednesday sidetracked progress. As reports surfaced that a cease-fire was again at hand, crude prices settled down again. But drivers in the United States have been minimally impacted by the crisis, in part because a boom in oil drilling in North Dakota and Texas has decreased the country's dependence on foreign oil. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States on Wednesday was $3.43, nearly two cents lower than a week ago and 24 cents lower than a month ago. Compared to a year ago, however, the regular gas price was still eight cents higher and the highest on record for the Thanksgiving holiday. That is mostly because of the lingering impact of Hurricane Sandy, which interrupted supplies around the New York metropolitan area and much of the East Coast. Drivers in many other states are actually paying less for gasoline than a year ago. According to the Oil Price Information Service and AAA, New Jersey gasoline prices are roughly 30 cents above last year's, while New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island drivers are paying over 20 cents more. Oil analysts say those prices should begin to ease as regional refineries and oil terminals that suffered flooding and electrical outages gradually return to normal operations over the next two weeks. With the exception of temporary, localized problems, oil experts say the country is well supplied with oil and gasoline, despite an Energy Department report on Wednesday showing that crude oil and motor gasoline inventories declined moderately last week. "Nationally, we have ample gasoline supplies, given where demand is," said Anthony Rouse, chief economist at Phillips 66, the global refinery giant. Mr. Rouse said he did not think the Gaza crisis would impact domestic petroleum supplies or prices in any substantial way. "Right now, this looks relatively self-contained in nations that are not really oil-producing areas," he said, adding that even if Iran got more deeply involved, "the market is already factoring in lower Iranian production because of the sanctions." Iran is exporting just over 1 million barrels a day, down from 3 million in the summer of 2011 because of sanctions imposed by governments in the United States and Europe. But production by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has increased over the last year anyway, with Iraq's output up by 500,000 barrels a day and Libya's recovering more than 1.5 million barrels a day lost during its civil war last year. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are also producing more. Producers outside of OPEC are also producing slightly more than a year ago, principally because of increases in output from the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, demand for liquid fuels is down by 1.5 percent in the United States this year, according to the Energy Department, because of the slow economic recovery and a gradual improvement in efficiency of cars. Demand is falling even faster in Europe, and increasing demand around the developing world is slowing. Nevertheless, energy experts warn that an oil price jump is possible in the year ahead because so much of the world's supplies are produced in politically unstable countries. Pipeline sabotage has been a persistent problem in Nigeria, causing production delays in recent months. Libyan militias independent of government control can threaten oil production, though up until now they have mostly left the country's oil fields and refineries alone. Sectarian violence is a threat to Iraq's growing oil industry. Then there is the possibility that Israel or the United States might attack Iran to block it from attaining nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly threatened to block the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which nearly a fifth of the world's oil is shipped. "The Middle East will always be hanging over us," said Lawrence J. Goldstein, a director of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, which is partly financed by the oil industry.