Oil prices fell in early trading Monday after four weeks of gains, as the prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza eased geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while investors assessed the potential disruption to U.S. energy supplies from Tropical Storm Beryl.
price movement
Brent crude futures were down 12 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $86.42 a barrel by 0234 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 28 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $82.88 a barrel.
Talks are currently underway on a US ceasefire plan aimed at ending the nine-month war in Gaza, brokered by Qatar and Egypt.
“If anything concrete comes out of the ceasefire talks, it will take some of the geopolitics out of the market for now,” said Tony Sycamore, a Sydney-based analyst at IG.
The ports of Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City were closed Sunday in preparation for Tropical Storm Beryl, which could develop into a Category 2 hurricane after making landfall on the central Texas coast between Galveston and Corpus Christi later Monday.
Port closures could temporarily halt crude oil and liquefied natural gas exports, oil shipments to refineries, and the delivery of motor fuel from those plants.
Oil prices also received support last week on hopes of interest rate cuts following U.S. data on Friday that showed falling inflation and slowing job growth, Sycamore said.
Lower interest rates could boost economic activity and increase demand for crude oil.
Investors were also watching for any impact from elections in Britain, France and Iran last week on geopolitics and energy policies.
