Still, Iran-fixated traders ignored a massive U.S. crude build during Tuesday's session: File Image/Pixabay

Oil on Tuesday enjoyed another modest upward bump early in the session, due again to tensions between the U.S. and Iran – but at least one analyst suggested that geopolitical fatigue may soon take hold and cause a sustained, downward slide in prices.

As of 1458 GMT, Brent rose 27 cents at $69.31 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate rose 12 cents to $64.48

Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG, said, "While talks in Oman produced a cautiously positive tone, a modest risk premium has been kept intact by lingering uncertainty over potential escalation, sanctions tightening or supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz."

However, Tamas Varga, oil analyst at PVM, added, "But unless there are concrete signs of supply disruptions, prices will likely start going lower."

Indeed, oil prices on Tuesday ultimately ended lower, albeit by a fraction of a percent for both benchmarks.

Varga's remarks echoed those of independent Canadian analyst Rashid Husain Syed, who in the previous session expressed a dim view of oil prices being propped up by geopolitics, referring to them as a "distortion" that "is setting the market up for a hard correction."

Syed went on to explain that the phase will pass and "fundamentals—global supply, demand growth, inventories and spare capacity—will reassert control, and when they do, the reality of a glut-like market will push prices lower."

As if to support Syed's sentiment, traders on Tuesday seemed to overlook the American Petroleum Industry reporting that U.S. crude inventories swelled by 13.4 million barrels last week; if confirmed Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration, this will be the largest build since November 2023.

Still, other factors contributed to a mild support of prices, the most recent one delivered Tuesday by a report from eastern NATO member states Poland and Estonia, which argued that Russia has no intention of ending its war in Ukraine; instead, their report posits that president Vladimir Putin is likely using peace talks to buy time and restore full relations with Washington in order to pursue sanctions relief.