Oil steady as Gaza talks ongoing
London — Oil prices were stable on Friday, with global benchmark Brent hovering above $86 per barrel, as the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza gained traction.
Brent crude futures were up 26 cents at $86.04 a barrel by 1306 GMT. U.S. crude futures were up 28 cents at $81.35 per barrel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he believed talks in Qatar could reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken met Arab foreign ministers and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo as negotiators in Qatar centred on a truce of about six weeks.
“A ceasefire would help calm fears that the situation in Gaza might spread more broadly across the region,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.
“Additionally, it may encourage the Houthis to stand down and allow oil tankers to pass through the Red Sea, which would also be a positive development in terms of helping to balance out the supply and demand dynamics.”
Meanwhile, Russia launched the largest missile and drone attack on Ukrainian energy infrastructure of the war to date on Friday, hitting the country’s largest dam and causing blackouts in several regions, Kyiv said.
Ukraine has in recent weeks masterminded a series of attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. The United States has reportedly urged Kyiv to halt strikes on facilities, warning that they risk provoking retaliation and driving up oil prices.
In the United States, the world’s top oil consumer, gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, slipped below 9 million barrels for the first time in three weeks, indicating a possible slowdown in crude demand.