Oil edges down as investors weigh possible US sanctions on 'shadow fleet'

Oil prices eased slightly on Friday morning, according to Business Recorder, as traders weighed tensions in the Middle East against possible US moves to loosen curbs on the so-called shadow fleet of tankers. Brent futures slipped 41 cents to $105.51 a barrel as of 0012 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate fell 54 cents to $97.43.

WTI had gained more than 3% on Thursday, helped by a sizeable drop in US crude inventories, while Brent was little changed over the same session. The International Energy Agency agreed to release 20 million barrels or more of diesel, plus leftover supply from a record emergency reserve release made in March, to ease prices that have been climbing sharply.

Geopolitics also shaped the day: the Trump administration is weighing sanctions relief for some shadow fleet vessels that carried oil and fuel from Russia, Iran and Venezuela, a step meant to ease record freight costs, according to a US official who spoke on Wednesday. Renewed Houthi missile strikes on Aden and escalating fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthis, along with new attacks on ships, helped support prices. Iran, meanwhile, says it is intensifying strikes in reply to a US port blockade and harsher penalties imposed last month.