Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices were down sharply on Tuesday as Iraq’s state-owned oil company said unrest in Baghdad would not affect production.

Brent crude fell back under $100 per barrel, moving down 5.3% to $99.33 in mid-afternoon trading in the US and WTI prices were down 5.45% to $91.72.

Violence erupted in Baghdad on Monday after Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced he would be stepping away from politics.