Oct 29 Reuters Oil prices inched up on Tuesday after tumbling 6 in the previous session, as a U.S. plan to buy oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve SPR provided some support though wider concerns about weaker future demand growth exerted pressure.

Brent crude futures climbed 63 cents, or 0.88 to 72.05 a barrel by 0847 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was 58 cents, or 0.86, higher at 67.37 a barrel.

On Monday, both contracts fell to their lowest since Oct. 1 after Israel39;s retaliatory strike on Iran at the weekend bypassed Tehran39;s oil infrastructure.

With signs that neither country seemed likely to escalate the conflict after the attack, investor concerns about flagging global oil demand growth for this year and next rose to the fore.

Unless there is another Iranian counter to the counterattack recurring the run up to the U.S. vote next week will likely see Israel limit its operations to proxies rather than Iran itself, said John Evans, an analyst at oil broker PVM.

Still, tensions in the Middle East remain high. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Iran will use all available tools to respond to Israel39;s weekend attack.

The U.S. warned Iran at the United Nations Security Council of severe consequences if it undertakes any further aggressive acts against Israel or U.S. personnel in the Middle East.

The U.S. on Monday said it was seeking up to 3 million barrels of oil for the SPR for delivery through May…