Oil prices fell by about 4% during trading on Tuesday, October 15, as fears of disruption to oil supplies receded.
A report by the Washington Post indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed America that Israel is prepared to strike Iranian military targets, not nuclear or oil targets.
The report stressed that the Israeli response would be calculated to avoid the idea of political interference in the US elections.
In terms of trading, Brent crude futures fell by about 3.7% to $74.56 per barrel. US crude futures also fell by about 3.8% to $71.06 per barrel.
Prices have fallen about 4% this week, nearly erasing the cumulative gains made over seven sessions through Friday when investors fretted about supply risks as Israel planned to respond to an Iranian missile attack.
In a separate context, OPEC lowered its expectations for global oil demand growth in 2024 and next year.
This is the third straight monthly cut, suggesting that its previously optimistic outlook will be further reduced, analysts at ANZ Research said in a note on Tuesday.
They added: Iraq is still not making any progress on the additional cuts it promised to compensate for the overproduction.
China is behind the bulk of the downgrade for 2024, with OPEC cutting its forecast for Chinese demand growth to 580,000 barrels per day from 650,000 barrels per day.
Lower shipments of crude to China, the world's largest oil importer, during the first nine months of the year also weighed on prices, with data showing imports down about 3% from a year ago.
