Sept 23 (Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as traders contemplated the impacts of ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Russia, while worries over trade tariffs that could dampen fuel demand persisted.
Brent crude futures were almost steady at $66.56 a barrel by 0041 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.29 a barrel, up 2 cents.
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Two Gaza City hospitals have been taken out of service due to the escalation of Israel’s ground offensive and damage caused by continued Israeli bombing, Gaza’s health ministry said, as tanks advanced deeper into the territory.
Meanwhile, dozens of world leaders gathered at the United Nations on Monday to embrace a Palestinian state, a landmark diplomatic shift nearly two years into the Gaza war that faces fierce resistance from Israel and its close ally the United States.
Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on Russia’s energy facilities in the past few weeks, targeting refineries and export terminals, while the European Union plans to ban Russian LNG imports into the bloc a year earlier than envisaged as part of a 19th package of sanctions against Moscow following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Crude oil was relatively unchanged as the market digested the impact of the European Union’s efforts to restrict Russian supplies,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said in a note.
NATO allies accused Russia at the United Nations on Monday of violating the alliance’s air space in Estonia and Poland – actions that Britain said risked triggering an armed conflict.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday its forces had taken control of the settlement of Kalynivske, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in July hit their lowest level in four months, according to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) released on Monday.
Iraq, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ second-largest producer, has increased oil exports under an OPEC+ agreement, state oil marketer SOMO said.
Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln Feast.
