(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell, headed for its first weekly decline this month, as the US revived a push to end the conflict in the Middle East and China’s crude demand slipped.

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West Texas Intermediate slid more than 2% to trade below $69 a barrel while Brent retreated below $73 a barrel. Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli soldiers led US President Joe Biden to renew calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said operations are “yet to be completed.”

Recent data from China showed apparent oil demand fell from a year earlier, even amid tentative signs of economic improvement in the world’s second-biggest economy and the world’s largest crude importer.

Oil has failed to recover from sharp declines on Monday and Tuesday driven by easing concerns that Israel would strike Iran’s energy infrastructure in retaliation for an attack at the start of the month. Limiting the drop was a report on Thursday that nationwide US petroleum inventories fell for a fourth week.

In the longer term, the International Energy Agency forecast that rising global supply could lead to a sizable surplus next year.

“All things that happened yesterday and overnight considered, an upside correction cannot be ruled out, but this market is unlikely to scale previous summits,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at brokerage PVM. “The key takeaway from the latest set of data on the oil balance is that supply will exceed demand in 2025, or, depending on the source, its deficit will be less conspicuous than predicted before.”

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--With assistance from Weilun Soon.

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