Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as uncertainty over the conflict in the Middle East persisted, after falling as much as $5 this week to their lowest since early October on demand concerns.
Brent crude futures were up 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $74.49 a barrel by 0054 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 27 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $70.85 a barrel.
Oil prices fell more than 4 percent to their lowest in about two weeks on Tuesday on weak demand expectations and after a newspaper report that Israel would not strike Iranian nuclear and oil sites, easing concerns about supply disruptions.
However, concerns remain about an escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group, and the United States on Tuesday expressed its objection to the scope of Israeli air strikes in Beirut over the past few weeks.
On the demand side, OPEC and the International Energy Agency this week cut their forecasts for global oil demand growth in 2024, with China responsible for the bulk of the downgrades.
The market is awaiting data on U.S. crude and fuel inventories due on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters expect crude inventories to rise by about 1.8 million barrels in the week to Oct. 11.
