Oil prices steadied in Asian trading on Wednesday, as traders weighed uncertainty surrounding developments in the Middle East conflict against continued bearish fundamentals.
Brent crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.14%, to $77.29 a barrel by 02:23 GMT.
Prices had plunged more than 4% in the previous session on a possible Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire, but markets remain wary of a potential Israeli attack on Iran's oil infrastructure.
Hezbollah officials on Tuesday appeared to back off from a truce in Gaza as a condition for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
The U.S. EIA on Tuesday downgraded its 2024 forecast for global oil demand growth by 20,000 barrels per day (bpd), to 103.1 million bpd, because of weaker industrial production and manufacturing growth in the U.S. and China.
Persons:
Hezbollah's, Naim Qassem, Hurricane Milton, Tony Sycamore
Organizations:
Brent, . West Texas, Macquarie, Reuters, American Petroleum Institute, U.S, EIA, IG . Florida
Locations:
Israel, Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, U.S, China, Hurricane, Coast, Tampa