Daily Times

Crude oil prices edged lower on Friday but are headed for a weekly gain as Middle East tensions continue unabated after Israel rejected a ceasefire proposal, dealing another blow to peace efforts. As of 1300 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, shed $0.21 (-0.26 percent) to reach $81.42 a barrel. Similarly, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, went down by $0.10 (-0.13 percent) to $76.12 a barrel. On the other hand, the price of Arab Light increased by $1.36 (+1.69 percent) to reach $81.79 a barrel. Similarly, the price of Russian Sokol increased by $1.32 (+1.80 percent) to $74.72. Following suit, the price for Opec Basket increased to $78.86 a barrel with an uptick of $0.50 (+0.64 percent). Oil is headed for a weekly gain as Middle East tensions continue after Israel rejected a ceasefire proposal from Hamas, dealing another blow to peace efforts to end the four-month-long war. The Israel-Gaza war, which has entered its fifth month, has kept oil prices elevated. For the week, both benchmarks are poised to gain more than 5 percent. Despite intense US and international efforts to bring about a truce, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to dismiss such talk on Wednesday and vowed his country’s military would keep fighting Hamas in an attempt to achieve “absolute victory”.