Oil prices rose slightly, but suffered a weekly loss, after Iran downplayed suspected Israeli attacks on its territory, an indication of the possibility of avoiding an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose 18 cents, or 0.21 percent, at settlement, to $87.29 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery rose 41 cents, or 0.5 percent, to reach $83.14 a barrel upon settlement.
The most actively traded futures contract for June delivery rose 12 cents to $82.22 a barrel.
The two benchmarks rose by more than three dollars a barrel earlier in the session after explosions were heard in the Iranian city of Isfahan at dawn on Friday, in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but the gains declined after Tehran downplayed the incident and indicated that it had no plans to respond. .
Tim Snyder, an economist at Matador Economics, said, ‘It was only a big show, and therefore the markets fell as quickly as they rose.’
Source: National Iraqi News Agency