(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell within its recent narrow band as traders continue to monitor a looming oversupply and US efforts to force India to desist from buying Russian barrels.

Brent dropped below $68 a barrel, having traded between $65 and $70 for virtually all of August. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro stepped up the pressure on New Delhi to halt purchases of Russian oil after Washington doubled a levy on imports from the country to 50%. The US has singled out India over Russian crude imports as part of its efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

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At the same time, Ukraine has ramped up drone attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure, hitting two more refineries after a run of recent strikes. Moscow’s crude exports slipped last week, tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed, after Ukraine intensified its attacks.

“Tariffs and sanctions related to Russia, as well as attacks on Russian oil facilities have kept oil prices resilient in the high $60s, despite the looming oversupply that should lower prices,” Citigroup analysts including Anthony Yuen said in a note.

While a surplus is widely expected toward the end of the year as supplies swell from both inside and outside the OPEC+ alliance, its impact on the market remains uncertain. Bank of America Corp. said on Wednesday that the availability of about a billion barrels of spare tank space means it’s possible that the extra supplies could be absorbed fairly comfortably.

Against that backdrop, there’s been some weakness in the Brent market over recent days, after a run of cargo offers in the key North Sea pricing window. Vital swaps contracts are at the weakest level since May and the global benchmark is at the softest since March relative to the Middle Eastern Dubai marker.

--With assistance from Jake Lloyd-Smith.

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