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Oil prices eased slightly on Friday but remained close to the $100 per barrel<\/strong> level, as persistent concerns over supply disruptions linked to the U.S.\u2013Israel war with Iran continued to dominate market sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By 06:44 ET (10:44 GMT)<\/strong>, Brent crude futures for May slipped 0.3% to $100.17 per barrel<\/strong>, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.9% to $94.92 per barrel<\/strong>. Despite the modest pullback, Brent remained on track for a second consecutive week of strong gains<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crude prices initially dropped as much as 1%<\/strong> after the U.S. Treasury Department<\/strong> announced it would permit the purchase of Russian oil that was already at sea, a move aimed at offsetting supply shocks caused by the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent<\/strong> said the measure was designed to stabilize global energy markets amid the disruption stemming from the war with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in the week, Washington had also issued waivers allowing certain Russian oil shipments to proceed, including deliveries to India<\/strong>, the world\u2019s third-largest crude importer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite these measures, oil prices remained elevated as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> continued to threaten global supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bessent noted that the U.S. Navy may escort commercial vessels through the strait<\/strong>, a critical maritime corridor south of Iran through which roughly 20% of the world\u2019s oil supply<\/strong> passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shipping through the waterway has effectively stalled as tanker operators avoid the route due to fears of Iranian attacks<\/strong>, raising the risk of major supply disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The resulting spike in energy prices has increased concerns about an inflation shock<\/strong>, which could prompt central banks worldwide to adopt a more hawkish monetary policy stance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oil prices have experienced dramatic volatility throughout the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At one stage, Brent crude surged close to $120 per barrel<\/strong>, before retreating below $90<\/strong> as traders reacted to shifting geopolitical developments and policy responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the sharp swings have dominated headlines, analysts at Capital Economics<\/strong> say the key question now is whether the current price surge will prove temporary or persist if disruptions continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran<\/strong> has now continued for more than a week, with ongoing airstrikes on Iranian targets and retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several attacks have reportedly targeted oil infrastructure across parts of the Middle East<\/strong>, heightening concerns about prolonged supply disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iran\u2019s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei<\/strong> has vowed to block the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, a move analysts say could be intended to increase leverage over Washington and its allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the strategic waterway under threat and energy facilities increasingly targeted, global oil markets remain highly sensitive to further developments in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oil prices eased slightly on Friday but remained close to the $100 per barrel level, as persistent concerns over supply disruptions linked to the U.S.\u2013Israel war with Iran continued to dominate market sentiment. By 06:44 ET (10:44 GMT), Brent crude futures for May slipped 0.3% to $100.17 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":100911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124661,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124660\/revisions\/124661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}U.S. waivers for Russian oil limit declines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hormuz tensions keep markets on edge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Oil markets swing sharply<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conflict intensifies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n