Oil prices remain under pressure despite heading towards their strongest weekly performance in 7 weeks

Crude oil prices erased most of the gains they achieved during morning trade in the final session of the week on Friday, ending oil's streak of daily gains that lasted three consecutive sessions, amid a diplomatic breakthrough regarding the continuation of talks between the United States and Iran about ending the conflict in the Middle East.

The decline in crude oil prices came after media reports indicated that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, this evening, on a visit that may pave the way for progress in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States.

This visit follows recent communications between the Iranian official and his counterparts in Pakistan regarding a ceasefire, where Islamabad expressed confidence in the possibility of achieving tangible progress, despite the ongoing ambiguity surrounding the details of involvement and the timing of the negotiations.

In a related context, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is in no rush to reach an agreement, emphasizing his desire to strike an “excellent deal,” considering that the dispute “will not take long,” which could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and remove the risk to global oil supplies, further contributing to the decrease in oil prices today.

Crude Oil Prices

In today’s trading, Brent crude oil futures for June delivery fell by about 0.25% to reach $104.80 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for May delivery also saw a drop of about 0.87%, trading near the $95.02 a barrel level.

Despite the decline in daily oil performance; crude oil prices are on track to record the strongest weekly gains in 7 weeks, with total gains for Brent and WTI crude amounting to about 12% since the beginning of the week to date.