Oil futures fell on Friday after Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and amid expectations that major producers are set to agree to raise their output this weekend.
Brent crude futures were down 22 cents, or 0.32%, to $68.58 a barrel by 0445 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 12 cents, or 0.18%, to $66.88.
Trade was thinned by the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
U.S. news website Axios reported on Thursday that the U.S. was planning to meet with Iran next week to restart nuclear talk, while Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Thursday's news that the U.S. is preparing to resume nuclear talks with Iran, and Araqchi’s clarification that cooperation with the U.N. atomic agency has not been halted considerably eases the threat of a fresh outbreak of hostilities," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.
Araqchi's comments came a day after Tehran enacted a law suspending cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"But the price correction may have to wait till Monday, when the U.S. reopens from a long weekend and takes in Sunday's OPEC+ decision, which is likely to be another 411,000 barrels per day target hike in August," Hari said.
OPEC+, the world's largest group of oil producers, is set to announce an increase of 411,000 bpd in production for August as it looks to regain market share, four delegates from the group told Reuters.
Meanwhile, uncertainty over U.S. tariff policies was renewed as the end of a 90-day pause on higher levy rates approaches.
Washington will start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they will face on goods sent to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual trade deals.
President Donald Trump told reporters before departing for Iowa on Thursday that letters would be sent to 10 countries at a time, laying out tariff rates of 20% to 30%.
Trump's 90-day pause on higher U.S. tariffs ends on 9 July, and several large trading partners have yet to clinch trade deals, including the European Union and Japan.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Thursday against a network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said.
Saudi Arabian Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with President Trump and other officials at The White House, however, to discuss de-escalation efforts with Iran, media reports said.
Trump also said on Thursday that he would meet with representatives of Iran "if necessary".
Separately, Barclays said it raised its Brent oil price forecast by $6 to $72 per barrel for 2025 and by $10 to $70 a barrel for 2026 on an improved outlook for demand.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov have had a telephone conversation following the recent resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A senior official from the U.N. nuclear watchdog will arrive in Iran for talks on Monday, but no visit to nuclear sites is planned, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK have agreed to set the end of August as the unofficial deadline for reaching a new nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing three sources familiar with the talks.
In a show of diplomatic unity, Italian and French foreign ministers met in Rome to address global crises, calling for urgent ceasefires and coordinated support on Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.
The Oligarch’s Design is an investigative documentary exploring how financial power, political influence and carefully constructed narratives can shape conflict and public perception.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated his offer to host Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Ankara, at his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The talks took place on the sidelines of the international Forum for Peace and Trust in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Friday (12 December).
Iranian authorities have seized a foreign tanker carrying more than 6 million litres of smuggled fuel in the Sea of Oman.
Russian forces struck Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa for a second consecutive day on Saturday (13 December), deploying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles for the first time in the conflict, Ukrainian authorities said.
A bulk carrier owned by a Turkish company was struck during a Russian attack on Ukraine’s southern coast on Friday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50% to 3.75% following its two-day policy meeting, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday, 10 December.
China has carried out a major test of a new “super wireless” rail convoy, a technology that could reshape the future of heavy-haul transport.
Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O) has launched a $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O). The escalation follows a high-stakes battle that had appeared to end last week when Netflix secured a $72 billion deal for the studio giant’s assets.
U.S. industrial production rose by 0.1% in September, rebounding after a decline in August, while capacity utilisation remained unchanged, according to Federal Reserve data on Wednesday.
Google’s YouTube has announced a “disappointing update” for millions of Australian users and creators, confirming it will comply with the country’s world-first ban on social media access for under-16s by locking affected users out of their accounts within days.
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