Oil prices edged higher on Friday ahead of a long holiday weekend in the United States, as investors remained cautiously optimistic about diplomatic efforts aimed at securing peace between the United States and Iran.
اضافة اعلان
Brent crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.24%, to US$72.10 per barrel by 01:55 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 14 cents, or 0.20%, to US$68.83 per barrel.
U.S. financial markets were closed on Friday ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Saturday.
During the previous trading session, both benchmarks fell to their lowest levels since before the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran in late February.
For the week, Brent crude was down 0.02%, while WTI was up 0.12%, marking their narrowest weekly trading ranges in several months.
"It's a case of cautious optimism," said Tim Waterer, Chief Market Analyst at KCM Trade. "The market wants to believe that peace efforts will hold, but investors are still hedging their expectations until they see concrete evidence on the ground."
Several oil-producing countries have begun increasing output following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed before the conflict erupted.
A source familiar with the matter said on Thursday that Kuwait's oil production surged to 1.65 million barrels per day in June, up from 580,000 barrels per day in May, after the OPEC member boosted exports following the temporary peace agreement between the United States and Iran.
According to shipping data and trade sources, at least five Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) carrying a combined 10 million barrels of Saudi crude have passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco has reportedly shifted to spot pricing to accelerate crude sales in Asian markets.
