Oil prices eased on Friday but were still headed for another weekly increase on lingering Middle East supply concerns and amid global moves to boost crude stockpiles.
Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world's oil, declined 0.77 per cent to $105.10 a barrel at 12.59pm UAE time. WTI, the gauge that tracks US crude, was though on pace for a sharp gain for the week, retreated nearly 1 per cent to $97.04.
For the week, Brent is on pace to add 0.32 per cent, while WTI is on track to jump by more than 5.6 per cent.
Global energy prices remain volatile and elevated as the war in Iran, now in its eighth month, continues to choke energy supplies. That has prompted moves to ensure ample supplies globally.
On Thursday, the International Energy Agency said that its March pledge to release crude oil stocks will exceed its target, and will be accelerating the release of the remaining supplies as global efforts to tame soaring energy prices continue.
The Paris-based IEA also pointed out that exports out of the Middle East have recovered to pre-crisis levels and that oil storage globally is not tight.
Gulf oil producers, meanwhile, have pushed tanker transfers as far as India’s coast and slashed prices to keep crude flowing to Asia, as the makeshift export network around the Strait of Hormuz buckles under congestion and attack.
Ship-to-ship transfers in India's Gulf of Kutch reached 82 cargoes in September, equivalent to about 680,000 barrels a day, according to shipping analytics company Vortexa. Refined products accounted for about 65 per cent of the volume, with crude making up the remainder.
Current oil market levels "still seem to be somewhat lofty compared to market realities ... [but] we are not running out of oil, as flows out of the Middle East have largely recovered. Instead of tilting the oil market into a deficit, the Iran war has mainly erased the surplus that had been built in 2025", said Norbert Rucker, head of economics and next generation research at Swiss lender Julius Baer.
Earlier this month, G7 leaders pledged to accelerate the IEA's co-ordinated emergency stock release by rolling out 100 million barrels of diesel and other reserves through the IEA to help stabilise markets.
And in a surprise move last week, US President Donald Trump's administration lifted sanctions on Russia to enable the country to supply millions of barrels of diesel to global markets.
The IEA on Wednesday also warned that the global diesel shortage triggered by the Iran war is set to persist well into next year, with depleted inventories unlikely to recover until the second half of 2027.
Also, Mr Trump's declaration of an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine has raised questions over its validity, after Moscow offered no confirmation about the truce and Russian strikes hit Ukrainian power plants within hours of the announcement.