By Stephanie Kelly
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Wednesday near the previous session's two-month lows, as traders weighed hopes for a de-escalation in the US-Israeli war with Iran against concerns about continued attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures were up 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $91.68 a barrel at 0911 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 6 cents, or 0.1%, at $85.98.
There is little sign of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz easing after 37 ships were
attacked in October, the highest monthly total since the start of the war, according to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"There has been an increase of vessel attacks in the Gulf shipping lanes amidst uncertainty of the diplomacy talks," said June Goh, senior analyst at Sparta Commodities.
"With the US midterms well over and more crude flows out of the Middle East, there seems to be more bearish tones to the oil price."
She added that the key driver for the market was whether Iran would engage with US demands to reach a diplomatic agreement.
A tanker was struck northeast of Lima in Oman, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Tuesday. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said separately on Tuesday that two tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines on an "unauthorized route" in the strait.
"Even in the event a deal is struck, an increase in flows through the waterway would still depend on mine clearance, insurance costs and whether or not shipowners would even be willing to take the risk," LSEG Oil Research said in a November 10 note.
In the previous session, oil prices initially fell by more than $3 a barrel after US officials played down the need for further military strikes against Iran. Prices later pared some losses after an Iranian security official said no talks were taking place between the two sides.
On the supply side, US crude stocks rose by 9 million barrels in the latest week, market sources said, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute. Official data is due later on Wednesday.
Separately, a regional governor said a drone attack caused a fire in the port area of Ust-Luga on Russia's Baltic coast, injuring three workers.
Russian oil refining capacity has been reduced by about 30% since late October following renewed Ukrainian drone attacks, industry sources said.
Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for their first peace talks since February as envoys for US President Donald Trump launched a fresh push to end the war.
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in London and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore. Additional reporting by Colleen Howe in Beijing. Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Mark Potter)
