A.S.
Oil prices fell slightly during the Asian trades today, Friday, and were on their way to register a weekly loss, with growing hopes for calming tensions in the Middle East, reducing the risks that markets had supported in recent meetings
The contracts of the next Mayotte ' s delivery crude had declined by 0.5 per cent to $107.50 per barrel, while the contracts of the Middle East Texas crude had declined by 0.7 per cent to $93.82 per barrel.
Over the week, the two contracts were on their way to record losses exceeding 4%.
United States President Donald Trump had stated that he would stop attacks on Iran ' s energy infrastructure for 10 days, at the request of Tehran. Negotiations with Iran were going very well, thus enhancing hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough, although Iranian officials had shown a more cautious attitude towards those talks.
Information reports also indicated that Iran was considering a peace proposal of 15 United States items, which included extensive restrictions on Tehran ' s nuclear and military activities in exchange for commutation of sanctions and possible relaxation of tensions
These developments have helped to alleviate concerns about potential disruptions in supplies from the Middle East, particularly around the Harms Strait, which is a vital corridor through which a large portion of world oil supplies pass.
It should be noted that oil markets have experienced significant fluctuations in recent weeks, with prices rising sharply as tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran escalate.
Repeated signs of tranquillity, however, led to price declines, with traders reassessing the prospects and size of any shocks in supplies, and earlier this week, prices fell sharply following the postponement of tramb for scheduled strikes
Landing pressures have also increased this week by the issuance of U.S. crude oil stock data, which indicated a greater abundance in supply, with U.S. Petroleum Institute data showing an increase of about 2.3 million barrels last week.
Official data from the United States Department of Energy Information also showed that stocks increased by 6.9 million barrels to approximately 456.2 million barrels, the highest level since June 2024.
