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Brent was down 24 cents at $83.74 a barrel by 0958 GMT. The U.S.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June, set to expire on
Tuesday, edged 33 cents lower to $79.73 a barrel in tepid trade.
The more-active July contract was down 28 cents at $79.3.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner long seen as a
potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the
Azerbaijan border, officials and state media said on Monday.
Iranian oil policy should be unaffected by the president's
sudden death, as Khamenei holds ultimate power with a final say
on all state matters.
Separately, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
postponed his visit to Japan, scheduled to begin on Monday,
because of a health issue with his father King Salman, said
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at MST Marquee, said the market
is already accustomed to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's
leadership in the energy sector.
"Continuity in Saudi strategy is expected regardless of this
health issue," he said.
Meanwhile in Europe, another Russian energy facility was hit.
The Slavyansk oil refinery, located in the Krasnodar region, was
damaged after a weekend drone attack, state-run TASS reported on
Monday, citing a company security official.
Russia has reported a rise in Ukrainian attacks on its territory
since its forces opened a new front in northeastern Ukraine's
Kharkiv region earlier this month.
"The oil market remains largely rangebound and without any fresh
catalyst we will likely have to wait for clarity around OPEC+
output policy in order to break out of this range," said Warren
Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and
allies, together known as OPEC+, are scheduled to meet on June
1.
"The market also appears increasingly numb to developments on
the geopolitical front, likely due to the large amount of spare
capacity OPEC is sitting on," Patterson said.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in London, Colleen Howe in Beijing
and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul, Gerry
Doyle, Christian Schmollinger, Jamie Freed and Jan Harvey)
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