Oil prices fell on Friday and were heading for their first weekly decline after two weeks of gains, despite rising at Thursday’s settlement following a report that U.S. President Donald Trump was reluctant to return to the terms of the previous agreement with Iran.
Brent crude futures fell 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $89.45 a barrel by 00:35 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also declined 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.31 a barrel.
Both benchmarks were on track to end the week lower, with Brent down 5.3% and WTI 4.3%.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing informed sources, that the Trump administration had repeatedly told mediators that it was not interested in reviving the memorandum of understanding signed in June, complicating diplomatic efforts to resume talks between the two sides.
Earlier Thursday, Washington said it was not holding talks with Iran despite diplomatic efforts by other countries to bridge differences between the two sides.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions escalated after Moscow warned that it could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian territory using long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.
Trump, however, said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not attack any NATO member and played down media reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe had warned Russian officials this week against launching such attacks. Britain is one of NATO’s founding members.
Reuters
