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Brent futures dipped 29 cents or 0.35% to $83.27 a barrel by
0912 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April delivery fell
38 cents, or 0.38%, to $78.08 a barrel. The March WTI contract
rose 8 cents or 0.1% to $79.27 a barrel ahead of its expiry
during the session.
There was no settlement for WTI on Monday due to a U.S. public
holiday.
Crude markets were "marginally lower" in "quiet trading over the
Presidents' Day holiday in the U.S. and as demand concerns
offset ongoing Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions", IG market
analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.
Iran-aligned Houthis continued their attacks on shipping lanes
in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, with at least four more
vessels hit by drone and missile strikes since Friday.
One of them, the Belize-flagged, British-registered and
Lebanese-managed Rubymar cargo vessel in the Gulf of Aden, was
in danger of sinking, Houthis said, raising the stakes in their
campaign to disrupt global shipping in solidarity with
Palestinians in Gaza.
"Signs of stronger demand in China also boosted sentiment," ANZ
analysts wrote in a note.
Tourism revenue in China surged 47.3% year-on-year and rose
above pre-COVID levels during the national Lunar New Year
holiday that ended on Saturday.
China also made a record cut to a benchmark reference rate for
mortgages on Tuesday, in a bid to shore up its beleaguered
property market and economy.
However, the price-supportive factors did not completely offset
demand worries. A bearish International Energy Agency (IEA)
report last week revised the 2024 oil demand growth forecast
downward as the world shifts to cleaner energy.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten in London and Colleen Howe in Beijing
and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Shri Navaratnam,
Kirsten Donovan)
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