Oil prices fall as markets look to Iran truce, but remain wary of attacks on oil facilities

PERTH: Oil prices fell slightly on Friday as markets weighed the possibility of a truce between the US and Iran against the bombing of Saudi Arabia by Houthi rebels after a week of price spikes.

Brent was down 87 cents, or 0.82 per cent, at US$105.73 a barrel at 0212 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down US$1.56, or 1.65 per cent, at US$93.05 a barrel.

The sluggish opening was a contrast to a week of volatility when oil prices rose to a one-week high on Thursday. Both contracts rose as much as five per cent. Brent settled up 3.4 per cent and WTI was 2.7 per cent higher.

Brent notched its highest close since Sept 15. It was the first rise in days for WTI, which was down 13 per cent over the prior six sessions and is down 6.42 per cent for the week, compared with Brent's 2.09 per cent rise.

The spread between Brent and WTI is the widest it has been since May at US$12.68 when it was over US$13.

Fears of a US ban on diesel exports that could flood the domestic market are largely responsible for the price bifurcation, given that the two benchmarks usually rise and fall in tandem, despite the US contract usually selling for a discount.

"The unusually wide WTI-Brent spread also reflects the different regional risk profiles at play," said Tim Waterer, chief analyst at KCM Trade.

US and Iranian negotiators in New York are exploring a phased path out of war that would involve Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting its economic blockade of Iran, sources close to the talks said this week.

Since the war began at the end of February, around a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments have been curtailed, pushing up prices by 50 per cent in March alone while driving liquefied natural gas buyers to look further afield for new, stable supplies of the super-chilled fuel.

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said it was up to the US to choose when the Iran war will end.

"It's America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not," Pezeshkian said, responding to a question in an interview aired on Thursday on Fox News.

Saudi Arabia intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, thwarting attacks on the southern province of Taif and the Yanbu area on the Red Sea, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said.

Ongoing attacks "serve as a clear reminder that critical oil assets remain firmly in the firing line," Waterer said.

Saudi Arabia is building up crude pumping volumes through its East-West Pipeline that runs to its Red Sea export hub of Yanbu, although crude tanker loadings have yet to resume, according to industry sources, satellite imagery and shipping data.