ISLAMABAD
\nCrude 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.
\nAs of 1300 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world\u2019s 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.
\nOn 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).
\nOil 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.
\nThe 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.
\nDespite 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\u2019s military would keep fighting Hamas in an attempt to achieve \u201cabsolute victory\u201d.
\nOn Thursday, US President Joe Biden aimed some of his most direct criticism at Israel since it invaded the Gaza Strip in October, saying the actions of its military have been \u201cover the top\u201d. Biden also said he was working \u201ctirelessly\u201d to push for a deal that would lead to a \u201csustained pause\u201d in the fighting.
\nIn addition, crude oil futures may receive positive support if the Federal Reserve decides to lower interest rates this year, should the US economy meet expectations. The US central bank held its interest rates steady on January 31, while also affirming they will remain elevated until the central bank is confident inflation is moving closer to its 2 per cent goal.
\nOil futures recorded their biggest weekly loss of over 7 percent since November last week. Brent ended the week lower by $6.22 (-7.44 percent) while WTI closed the week lower by $5.73 (-7.35 percent) on a week-on-week basis.
\n However, oil prices posted the first monthly gain in January since September and WTI and Brent rose 5.86 percent and 6.06 percent, respectively, on a month-on-month basis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD 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\u2019s oil, shed $0.21 (-0.26 percent) to reach $81.42 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-386166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n