NNA - Oil prices held steady on Tuesday after the previous day's rally, driven by a halt in production at Norway's Johan Sverdrup oilfield, and as investors remained cautious amid fears of an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Brent crude futures for January delivery fell 2 cents to $73.28 a barrel by 0730 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for December delivery were at $69.13 a barrel, down 3 cents. The more active WTI January contract eased 6 cents to $69.11.

Both benchmarks climbed more than $2 a barrel on Monday after Norway's Equinor (EQNR.OL), opens new tab said it had halted output from its Johan Sverdrup oilfield, Western Europe's largest, due to an onshore power outage.

Work to restart production was underway, an Equinor spokesperson said, but it was not immediately clear when it would resume.

Additionally, Kazakhstan's biggest oil field Tengiz, operated by U.S. major Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab, has reduced oil output by 28% to 30% due to repairs, helping to further tighten global supplies. Repairs were expected to be completed by Saturday, the country's energy ministry said.

"A halt of production at the 755,000 barrels per day Johan Sverdrup field in Norway due to a power outage, and a drop in production at the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan provided further upside," said ING analysts in a note.

"In addition, geopolitical risks between Russia and Ukraine have increased after the U.S. said it would allow Ukraine to carry out long-range missile strikes on Russia."

Russia had unleashed its largest airstrike on Ukraine in almost three months on Sunday, causing severe damage to the country's power system.--Reuters 

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