Price action
Crude futures rose Brent 11 cents, or 0.14 percent, to $77.29 a barrel by 0223 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased three cents to $73.60, according to Reuters data.
Prices fell more than four percent in the previous session due to the possibility of reaching a ceasefire between the Lebanese Hezbollah group and Israel, but markets remained wary of a possible Israeli attack on Iranian oil infrastructure.
“We expect additional volatility as the market balances bearish fundamentals with supply risks due to escalating tensions in the Middle East,” analysts at Macquarie said in a note.
The selling in Tuesday’s session followed a rise that began after Iran fired missiles at Israel on October 1, leading to an eight percent rise during the week on Friday, the largest in more than a year.
Yesterday, Tuesday, the leaders of the Lebanese Hezbollah group appeared to back down from the condition of implementing a truce in the Gaza Strip in order to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, said in a speech broadcast on television on Tuesday that he supports the efforts of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, to reach a truce, without setting preconditions.
Numbers reported American Petroleum Institute Tuesday that Oil stocks US crude oil rose by about 11 million barrels last week, far exceeding the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters. But fuel stocks fell.
Weak demand continued to support fundamental expectations. On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration lowered its forecast for global demand growth Oil In 2024, by 20 thousand barrels per day to 103.1 million barrels per day due to weak industrial production and manufacturing growth in the United States and China.
Hurricane Milton, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever, is expected to hit the coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, which could disrupt gasoline supplies to the third-largest consuming state in the United States.
“With some uncertainty about Hurricane Milton’s impact on oil infrastructure and traders continuing to guess what Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack will be and when it will come, I think we have reached a new upper trading range at the moment between 72.50,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG. $77.50.
Florida, which relies on marine imports of fuel, closed most of its ports to ship traffic on Tuesday, and energy companies closed some pipelines and delivery stations in the Tampa area of the state.
