Shipowner Frontline said the incident near the Strait of Hormuz was due to navigational issues and not related to the current Israel-Iran conflict.

Stocks lost ground in early trading Tuesday, while oil prices moved higher, as investors monitored developments in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and digested disappointing economic data.

Markets are concerned about Iran's frequent threats to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, just as the US heads into peak summer demand season.

In a separate report on the outlook to 2030, the IEA forecast that oil supply would continue to outstrip demand over the next five years. Global oil demand is expected to increase by 2.5mn b/d between 2024 and 2030, reaching “a plateau” of 105.5mn by the end of the decade.

The initial round of Israeli attacks sent oil prices 7 percent higher on Friday. Still, at about $74 a barrel, Brent crude remains below the $80 average for 2024, the Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. The market continued to waver, though, and by Monday, oil prices had fallen about 3 percent.

The dramatic escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran caused a spike in the price of crude and raised fears among oil traders about disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital waterways.

Russian gas accounted for about 19% of EU imports last year, down from roughly 45% before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and oil imports have declined to 3% from 27% in early 2022.

The Environmental Protection Agency has told staff overseeing the country’s industrialized Midwest– a region plagued by a legacy of pollution– to stop enforcing violations against the fossil fuel companies,

A surging oil price is likely to trigger a depreciation in Asian currencies, notably the Thai baht, Taiwan dollar and Korean won, according to Barclays Plc.