SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell on Friday as leading European nations and Japan offered to join efforts to secure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz and the US outlined moves to boost oil supply.
Looking to curb soaring oil prices, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US may soon remove sanctions from Iranian oil stranded on tankers, and said a further release of crude from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve was possible.
Brent futures fell $1.06, or 0.98 percent, to $107.6 a barrel as of 9:37 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.48, or 1.55 percent, to $94.07.
Still, for the week, benchmark Brent was on track to rise nearly 4 percent, after Iran hit oil and gas facilities in the Gulf states forcing production to be shut in.
WTI, however, was set to fall more than 4 percent in its first weekly decline in five weeks.
