Oil falls as investors await clarity after Iran-Israel halt attacks

By Seher Dareen

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell connected Tuesday, erasing astir of the erstwhile session's gains, aft Iran and Israel said they had ‌halted attacks connected each different pursuing an entreaty from U.S. President Donald ‌Trump, though some sides warned they could resume hostilities.

Brent crude futures were down $1.33, oregon 1.4%, astatine $92.92 a tube ​at 0741 GMT, portion U.S. West Texas Intermediate declined $1.73, oregon 1.9%, to $89.57 a barrel.

The marketplace has been present before, said PVM Oil Associates expert Tamas Varga, referring to hopes for an extremity to hostilities that could past extremity the three-month warfare successful the Middle East.

Still, ‌in the lack of immoderate ⁠other movers successful the market, prices fell aft Iran and Israel said they had present halted attacks connected each other. Renewed Israeli strikes ⁠on Iran and attacks successful Lebanon implicit the play had pushed lipid prices up 5% connected Monday.

"In the meantime, planetary lipid inventories support depleting and arsenic data, whether play oregon monthly, ​becomes available, ​realization of dangerously debased lipid stockpiles worldwide ​could intensify the contention for disposable ‌barrels pushing Brent backmost supra $100 erstwhile again," Varga said.

Tehran has continued to artifact astir shipping done the Strait of Hormuz, which earlier the warfare carried a 5th of the world's crude lipid and liquefied earthy gas. Washington has imposed its ain blockade of Iranian ports.

Also helping to support a lid connected prices was a driblet successful China's imports ‌of crude, which were down 29% to their ​lowest levels successful 8 years past month. In April, ​imports fell to a multi-year debased ​of 9.3 cardinal bpd, with refiners successful the world's largest lipid ‌importer drafting connected reserves to offset an ​even steeper diminution from ​an mean of 11 cardinal bpd anterior to the U.S.-Israeli warfare connected Iran.

On Monday, U.S. forces disabled an unladen lipid tanker successful the Gulf of Oman ​after it attempted to sail ‌to an Iranian larboard successful usurpation of the ongoing blockade against Iran, ​the U.S. subject said.

(Reporting by Pooja Menon successful Bengaluru, Emily Chow successful Singapore; ​Editing by Sonali Paul and Susan Fenton)