Oil prices recorded a slight decline today, Friday, as the market evaluates varying factors, including the possibility of reaching a truce between the United States and Iran, alongside the shelling carried out by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia.
Brent crude fell by 74 cents or 0.69 percent to $105.85 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude dropped by 81 cents or 0.86 percent to $93.80 per barrel, according to Reuters news agency.
The beginning of trading was tepid in contrast to a week that saw sharp fluctuations. Oil prices rose yesterday, Thursday, to their highest level in a week. Brent crude increased by 3.4 percent at settlement, while West Texas Intermediate rose by 2.7 percent.
This comes as American and Iranian negotiators explore in New York a gradual path to end the war, which involves Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting the economic sanctions imposed on Iran, according to sources close to the negotiations this week.
Tim Waterer, senior analyst at KCM Trade, stated, "Diplomatic hopes are essentially helping oil prices withstand the military strikes that the Middle East region has witnessed recently."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated yesterday, Thursday, that it is the United States that should decide when the war between the two countries will end.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced that the kingdom intercepted six ballistic missiles launched by the Iranian-aligned Houthis, thwarting attacks on the Taif governorate and the Yanbu area on the Red Sea.
Waterer commented that the ongoing attacks are a "stark reminder that vital oil assets remain in the line of fire."
Saudi Arabia is working to increase crude oil pumping through the East-West pipeline, which extends to the Saudi export hub in Yanbu on the Red Sea. However, sector sources, satellite images, and shipping data show that loading operations for oil tankers have not yet resumed.