But prices set to dip to normal on signs of quick resolution to the U.S./Iran war: File Image/Pixabay

A wild day of oil trading on Monday that at one point saw the commodity exceed $110 per barrel due to hard-liner Mojtaba Khamenei named Iran’s new supreme leader ended with prices plummeting back to below $90, after U.S. president Donald Trump told media that the war with the Islamic republic “is very complete, pretty much.”

Brent settled at $98.96 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled at $94.77 – then dropped further to toward $85.

The duration of the U.S./Iran war remains the key issue of analytical debate, with some pundits warning that resulting high prices at the pump could spell economic calamity for many families – and, ultimately, stagflation, a scenario where economies stagnate and inflation remains high.

The main geographical source of consternation is the Strait of Hormuz, which, despite assurances that anchored oil tankers would receive military escorts through the passage, remains bottlenecked with supply.

Nicholas Mulder, an assistant professor of history at Cornell University, said, "In economic terms, this is already the largest oil supply shock ever….we are seeing roughly three to four times as many barrels of oil lost as during the 1973 and 1979 oil crises."

For his part, Jim Burkhard, vice-president and global head of crude oil research at S&P Global Energy, said restoring outputs for the many Middle Eastern countries that have cut back production to protect their assets will be "a massive technical exercise that could last weeks or more."

But Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, offered soothing sentiment by stating, “We continue to believe that the current acute shortage of oil will be reversed in the coming months as new supply comes online and oil should drop significantly.”

Also, according to CBS news and with regard to Hormuz, Trump is “thinking about taking it over.”

Meanwhile, Oxford Economics researchers predicted prices will fall to an average of $80 per barrel for the quarter.

John Luke Tyner, portfolio manager and head of fixed income at Aptus Capital Advisors, was even more optimistic about oil trading getting back to normal sooner than later; he said of the recent spikes, “I don’t think this little blip was bad enough or long enough to really upset the apple cart as far as growth and earnings go.

“I would imagine that unless a lot of infrastructure is screwed up that oil gets right back and normalizes somewhere between $65 and $75 [per barrel], which is kind of happy medium for everyone.”

As for potential trading influences in the days to come, energy ministers from the Group of Seven nations will meet virtually Tuesday morning to discuss potentially releasing oil reserves; they had a conversation on Monday but did not make a decision.