Oil prices slipped slightly during Asian trading on Thursday after posting their biggest gains in weeks, as investors locked in profits while monitoring escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and tightening global crude supplies. Brent crude futures for September delivery fell 0.9% to $89.92 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 0.6% to $83.94 per barrel. Although the missiles were intercepted, the incident prompted retaliatory strikes by U.S. and Saudi forces targeting Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Adding support to crude prices, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels last week, pushing stockpiles to their lowest level since 2018. The larger-than-expected decline reinforced expectations of tighter near-term oil supplies, helping offset Thursday’s modest profit-taking and keeping the overall outlook for crude prices supported by both geopolitical risks and improving supply-demand fundamentals.