Houston, Aug. 29 (SANA) Oil prices settled lower Friday and recorded weekly losses as traders weighed U.S. monetary policy signals and prospects for restoring normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures fell 39 cents, or 0.43%, to $89.31 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 13 cents, or 0.16%, to $83.40. Brent lost more than 5% for the week and WTI more than 4%.
Prices faced further pressure after new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh signaled a possible interest-rate increase later this year to curb inflation.
Markets were also monitoring efforts to restore oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran reached its sixth month. About 20% of global oil supply passed through the strategic waterway before the war began.
Mediators have stepped up efforts to reopen the strait, with Tehran agreeing to draw up a list of conditions for restoring normal traffic after a Qatari emissary pressed Iran to respect freedom of navigation.
Oil flows through the strait have begun a tentative but uneven recovery. Rystad Energy analyst Janiv Shah said the market had been surprised by additional flows, the Iran-Oman shipping corridor and U.S. mine-clearance claims.
Seven commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from 17 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of 15, preliminary shipping data showed Friday.
The Bab el-Mandeb, another major maritime chokepoint, recorded 17 commodity-vessel transits, with six entering and 11 exiting.
Goldman Sachs estimated recent Gulf exports at between 15 million and 16 million barrels per day, 7 million to 8 million bpd below pre-war levels but 5 million to 6 million bpd above their March low.
The United States this week also announced what it described as its toughest sanctions to date against Iran, while Tehran called the measures an “inhumane and hostile act” that had lost their effectiveness.
N.J/MF
