Oil prices rose slightly on Friday before a long U.S. holiday weekend as traders weighed guarded optimism over U.S.-Iran peace efforts and Strait of Hormuz flows.
Brent crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.24%, to USD 72.10 a barrel by 0155 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 14 cents, or 0.20%, to USD 68.83 a barrel. U.S. markets will close on Friday before the U.S. Independence Day holiday on Saturday.
Both benchmarks hit their lowest levels since before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February during the prior session.
For the week, Brent was down 0.02%, while WTI was up 0.12%. Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said the market showed “guarded optimism,” but wanted clearer evidence of stable shipping conditions.
The Strait of Hormuz carried one-fifth of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas supply before the war.
Read: Oil Prices Drop 1% as US-Iran Talks Ease Supply Fears
Kuwait’s oil production rose to 1.65 million barrels per day in June from 580,000 bpd in May, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Trade sources and shipping data showed at least five supertankers carrying 10 million barrels of Saudi oil had exited the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Aramco also switched to spot pricing to speed sales in Asia.
