Oil prices hovered at eight-month lows on Monday as fears of a U.S. recession outweighed concerns that rising tensions in the Middle East could hit supplies from the world's biggest oil-producing region.
Brent crude futures were down 4 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $76.77 a barrel by 0035 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $73.39 a barrel.
Prices were supported by continued fighting in Gaza , where Palestinian officials said Israeli warplanes bombed two schools and killed at least 30 on Sunday, a day after negotiations in Cairo ended without results.
Israel and the United States are anticipating a dangerous escalation in the region after Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas vowed to respond to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, and Fuad Shukr, a prominent Hezbollah military commander, last week.
If the fighting intensifies, crude exports could be affected, ANZ wrote in a note.
Despite concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East, Brent and WTI crude futures fell more than 3 percent to close at their lowest since January on Friday in a volatile week. Last week, the contracts posted their fourth straight weekly loss, their biggest losing streak since November.
Oil prices fell on fears of a recession in the United States and after OPEC+, an alliance between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers such as Russia, stuck to its plan to gradually phase out voluntary production cuts from October.
OPEC oil output rose in July despite output cuts by the group, a Reuters survey showed on Friday.
