Oil prices are set to fall for the week ending February 28, following reports that the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) will resume exports through T眉rkiye's Ceyhan port within hours, along with hopes for a peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine.
The International benchmark Brent crude traded at $72.73 per barrel at 2.33 p.m. local time (1133 GMT) on Friday, down by around 1.6% relative to the closing price of $73.90 a barrel last week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the American benchmark, traded at $69.27 a barrel at the same time on Friday, a fall of about 1.3% from last Friday's $70.20 per barrel close.
Prices eased Friday after Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said oil exports, starting at 185,000 barrels per day, would gradually increase to the level set in the federal budget.
On Sunday, Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudhair said the planned export volume would gradually be increased to 400,000 barrels.
The Iraqi Parliament had also approved changes to the budget law, setting the cost of extracting and transporting each barrel of oil from the Kurdish Regional Government at $16.
Resumed Iraqi oil exports via the Ceyhan Port could ease supply concerns and put downward pressure on oil prices, according to experts.
Meanwhile, Russian and US delegations met for six and a half hours at the US Consulate General's residence in Istanbul to discuss the operation of their respective embassies as part of the two countries' normalization of relations.
The delegations met for the first time on Feb. 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss bilateral relations and efforts to end the war in Ukraine, now over three years old.
Preparations are underway for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Furthermore, Trump's comments on tariffs and other countries' retaliatory actions also weighed on prices.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced on Thursday that the sanctions against Mexico and Canada would take effect on March 4 as planned, citing the flow of drugs into the country.
On Wednesday, Trump also announced the decision to revoke an exemption on oil sales to Venezuela.
Trump's announcement marked a reversal of previous concessions granted to Venezuela under the Biden administration, which had eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports.
In 2022, the former administration had eased some oil sanctions on Venezuela, marking the first significant crack in a years-long US embargo.
Meanwhile, oil prices were supported this week by data suggesting a demand increase in the US, the world's biggest oil consumer.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decline in crude inventories, suggesting stronger domestic demand.
According to the EIA, US commercial crude stocks fell by 2.3 million barrels to 430.2 million barrels last week 鈥� counter to market expectations of a 2.3 million barrel increase 鈥� highlighting a robust uptick in demand.
By Handan Kazanci
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr