Oil prices edged lower on Friday and were on course for a second weekly decline, as a continued US blockade of Iran eased fears of renewed fighting in the Middle East, though attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure kept supply risks elevated. Brent futures fell 28 cents, or 0.29%, to $95.54 a barrel at 0527 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropped 56 cents, or 0.63%, to $88.18 a barrel. The declines reversed two days of gains in a volatile week, and Brent was set for a 2.9% weekly drop after plunging 16% the previous week, with WTI heading for a 2.9% decline after falling 13% earlier.

The war between the US, Israel and Iran is now in its ninth month, and hopes for a rapprochement have been offset by new hostilities. US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that a deal with Iran was not necessary to end the war, and Oilprice quoted him saying, "We don't need a deal with Iran," adding that Washington holds "Hundreds of Billions of Dollars" of Iran's money and its Strait. Iran's military said four oil tankers were hit by explosions in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings, though Reuters could not immediately verify the Iranian accounts. On the same day, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they had attacked a pumping station on the Saudi East-West oil pipeline, an oil facility in the Saudi Red Sea city of Yanbu, and an Aramco building in Riyadh.S1S2

Analysts said the easing in prices was also driven by softening US demand. Sugandha Sachdeva, founder of SS WealthStreet, a New Delhi-based research firm, said Trump's signals that further military escalation may not be necessary have raised expectations that Washington could rely more on economic sanctions and restrictions on oil shipments. The Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that US crude and fuel inventories rose last week, driven by softer refined products demand and a jump in oil imports. Sachdeva warned that geopolitical risks remain elevated and that any fresh disruption to supplies could quickly reignite upward pressure on prices.S1

Prices remain far above pre-war levels. Oilprice noted that Brent and WTI are well below their mid-October peaks but still significantly higher than their February levels, before the war began. On the supply side, Saudi Arabia said its crude production rebounded to 10.56 million barrels a day last month, essentially the level seen before the war, and Aramco's chief executive said the company plans to raise output further in the remaining months of the year.S2