- Brent crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.24%, to $72.10 a barrel.
- WTI rose 14 cents, or 0.20%, to $68.83 a barrel.
- “It’s a case of cautious optimism,” said one analyst.
Oil prices rose slightly on Friday ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend, as cautious optimism persisted about efforts to bring peace to the Middle East between the United States and Iran.
Brent crude futures were up 17 cents, or 0.24 percent, at $72.10 a barrel at 0155 GMT. West Texas Intermediate rose 14 cents, or 0.20%, to $68.83 a barrel.
US markets will close on Friday ahead of the American Independence Day holiday on Saturday.
During the previous session, both benchmarks hit their lowest levels since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran in late February. Brent for the week was down 0.02% and WTI was up 0.12%, the smallest weekly moves for both in months.
“It’s a case of cautious optimism, with the market wanting to believe that peace efforts will hold, but it continues to hedge its bets until it sees real evidence on the water,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
Some countries are working to increase production with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which before the start of the war carried a fifth of the world’s daily supply of oil and liquefied natural gas.
Kuwait’s oil production rose sharply from 580,000 bpd in May to 1.65 million barrels per day in June, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, as the OPEC member country increased exports following the interim peace deal between the United States and Iran.
Additionally, at least five supertankers carrying a total of 10 million barrels of Saudi oil have left the Strait of Hormuz as Saudi Aramco opted for spot pricing to speed up its sales in Asia, according to trade sources and shipping data.
