Oil settles lower as traders continue to assess risks to Middle East supplies

Oil futures declined on Tuesday, easing back after a more than 4% rally a day earlier as traders continued to assess the impact of the Israel-Gaza war on crude supplies in the Middle East. Despite the easing of prices, “the markets remain unsettled by the situation in Israel, which could still lead to further instability and push the price of the barrel back to levels not seen since last year,” said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades. “From the perspective of oil traders, the big question mark lies over the potential involvement of Iran and how such a development could affect the supply of crude and drive an escalation in prices.” November West Texas Intermediate crude
CLX23,
-0.61%
shed 41 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $85.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.