🛢️ Global Oil Prices Rise Slightly Amid U.S. Holiday & Middle East Peace Efforts

• Market Context: Oil prices nudged higher on Friday ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend. The market reflects guarded optimism as U.S.-Iran peace efforts hold, though traders remain cautious until visual evidence of stabilization is clear. • Price Movements: • Brent futures rose 17 cents (+0.24%) to US$ 72.10 a barrel. • West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 14 cents (+0.20%) to US$ 68.83 a barrel. • For the week, Brent recorded a minor decline of 0.02% while WTI ticked up by 0.12%, marking the smallest weekly movements in months. • Supply & Regional Impact: • Nations are attempting to ramp up oil production following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint that historically carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. • Following the U.S.-Iran interim peace agreement, Kuwait’s oil production jumped drastically to 1.65 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, up from 580,000 bpd in May. • Shipping data reveals at least 5 supertankers carrying 10 million barrels of Saudi oil have exited the Strait, with Saudi Aramco shifting to spot pricing to accelerate sales into Asian markets. _Note: Summarized based on provisional market and shipping data._