Oil prices plunged over 4% to a near two-week low on Tuesday, driven by a weaker demand outlook and a report indicating that Israel would refrain from attacking Iranian nuclear and oil facilities, which alleviated concerns about potential supply disruptions.
Brent crude futures closed down $3.21, or 4.14%, at $74.25 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures fell $3.25, or 4.4%, to settle at $70.58 a barrel. Both benchmarks had earlier dipped by $4, marking their lowest levels since early October, following a 2% decline on Monday.
So far this week, Brent and WTI have dropped about $5, nearly erasing the gains made after fears escalated that Israel might target Iran's oil facilities in response to Tehran's missile attack on October 1.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly informed the United States that Israel is prepared to target Iranian military sites, rather than nuclear or oil facilities, as reported by the Washington Post late Monday.
Both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently revised down their forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2024, with the majority of the downgrades attributed to China.
