Oil prices inch up from near 5-mth lows as Middle East risks persist

investing.com:

Investing.com-- Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Tuesday as focus remained on a potential escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict, although disappointing OPEC+ cuts and strength in the dollar kept crude trading near five-month lows. 

Fears of a potential escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict came back into play after the U.S. held Iran responsible for an attack on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi forces. But traders remained wary of pricing a risk premium into oil over the conflict, given that it so far had minimal impact on Middle Eastern oil supplies. 

Disappointing production cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) were the key point of contention for oil markets, after the cartel announced new production cuts of less than 1 million barrels per day for early-2024. 

Oil bulls were banking on the production cuts to support crude prices, which were battered by persistent concerns that weakening economic activity will dent global crude demand. These concerns remained in play, following a string of weak data points from major economies over the past week. 

Brent oil futures expiring February rose 0.1% to $78.14 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.3% to $73.54 a barrel by 20:31 ET (01:31 GMT). Both contracts were trading just above their weakest levels since early-July, and were nursing six straight weeks of heavy losses. 

Also pressuring oil prices was some resilience in the dollar, which rose sharply in overnight trade. Markets were widely awaiting key nonfarm payrolls data, due this Friday, for more cues on the U.S. economy, amid growing optimism that the Federal Reserve was done raising interest rates.

But oil prices had seen little relief from this