2023.12.2608:17:00UTC+00Oil Prices Little Changed In Thin Holiday Trade

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday amid tensions in the Middle East and supply disruptions in the Red Sea.

That said, the prospect of higher production next year capped the potential upside.

Benchmark Brent crude futures edged up 0.2 percent to $78.93 a barrel in thin holiday trade, while WTI crude futures were marginally higher at $73.61.

Traders eyed Middle East tensions amid no end in sight to Israel's war on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said war will not stop and he is ready to encourage Palestinians in Gaza to leave the enclave.

Earlier, there were reports that the U.S. had launched strikes against targets in Iraq linked to Kataib Hezbollah following a drone attack on U.S. forces in Erbil.

Markets also weighed the prospect of disruptions to global trade through the Suez Canal after several international firms, including the Italian and Swiss-owned Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Denmark-based shipper Maersk, German shipper Hapag-Lloyd, and France-based shipper CMA CGM, stopped transiting the Red Sea following attacks earlier in December against ships.

The Houthi group in Yemen declared that ships owned or controlled by Israeli enterprises would be attacked in retaliation for Israel's attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Approximately 12 percent of global trade passes through the Suez Canal.