The oil price fell sharply after reports that Israel could strike military rather than nuclear or oil targets in Iran added to downward pressure after Opec cut its forecast for demand this year.
The benchmark Brent crude contract fell 3.6 per cent, or $2.83, to $74.65 a barrel on a Washington Post report that the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told the Biden administration that he was willing to focus on military targets in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks on Israel.
The oil price had already slipped below $78 a barrel yesterday after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said in a monthly report that sluggish economic activity in China would result in lower-than-expected oil consumption this year.
Opec trimmed its forecast