DTN Oil Update
Oil Eyes Large Weekly Loss Amid Fragile Iran Peace Hopes
SECAUCUS, N.J. (DTN) -- Crude futures were steady on Friday, headed for their largest weekly decline in 10 months, as market participants awaited the outcome of U.S.-Iran peace talks after a more than a month of fighting that led to an upheaval in Middle East oil supplies and surge in energy costs for consumers worldwide.
By 9:10 a.m. EDT, NYMEX WTI for May delivery was down $0.09, or 0.1%, to $97.78 bbl. For the week, the U.S. crude benchmark was down almost 13%, its biggest weekly decline since the week ended June 26, 2025.
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ICE Brent for June slid $0.44, or 0.5%, to $95.48 bbl. It showed a drop of almost 12.5% on the week.
Downstream, RBOB futures for May delivery softened by $0.0140 to $3.0147 gallon. Front-month ULSD futures also slid by $0.0855 to $3.8515 gallon.
Oil prices remained lower after data on Friday showed U.S. headline inflation rose in March as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged 3.3% year-on-year from higher gasoline and other energy costs brought on by the war in Iran.
The CPI number for March came in a touch below market expectations for an annual growth of 3.4%. But it was still the highest annual inflation rate for any month in almost two years after February's 2.4% growth.
Peace talks over Iran are scheduled to begin this weekend in Islamabad, Pakistan, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance leading the White House delegation. A ceasefire since Tuesday brought to a halt U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Iran that began on Feb. 27, triggering counterstrikes by Tehran against the oil and gas facilities of its neighbors deemed as U.S. and Israeli allies.
Ahead of the talks, U.S. President Donald Trump characterized Iran's 10-point proposal published by media outlets as a hoax, without precisely saying what Tehran had offered.
Iran has, nevertheless, demanded control and toll collection over the Strait of Hormuz as compensation for war damages.
Since the Iran broke out five weeks ago, Iran had blockaded the strait, barely providing passage to oil tankers that relied on the waterway that served as the artery of Middle East energy supplies. Prior to the war, the Hormuz was a transit point to around 140 oil tankers daily that carry a cumulative volume of about 20 million bpd of petroleum liquids that make up 20% of world supply.