Brent crude futures down 47 cents or 0.49% at $95.05

Oil prices eased on Friday but were still headed for a ‌weekly gain as rising US-Iran tensions heightened concerns over Middle East supply risks.

Brent crude futures were down 47 cents or 0.49% at $95.05 a barrel by 1:13pm PKT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 64 cents, or 0.70%, ​to $90.66.

However, Brent rose 6.5% for the week, its biggest weekly gain since August 17, while ​WTI climbed 8.8%, its strongest weekly performance since July 13.

US attacks this ​week that killed and wounded dozens, including Iranian civilians, marked the ⁠fiercest clashes between the two countries since July. The war, which began with US-Israeli ​strikes in late February, is now in its seventh month.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz renewed ​warnings that Israel would “cripple” Iran’s military and civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities.Oil prices eased on Friday but were still headed for a ‌weekly gain as rising US-Iran tensions heightened concerns over Middle East supply risks.

Brent crude futures were down 47 cents or 0.49% at $95.05 a barrel by 1:13pm PKT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 64 cents, or 0.70%, ​to $90.66.

However, Brent rose 6.5% for the week, its biggest weekly gain since August 17, while ​WTI climbed 8.8%, its strongest weekly performance since July 13.

US attacks this ​week that killed and wounded dozens, including Iranian civilians, marked the ⁠fiercest clashes between the two countries since July. The war, which began with US-Israeli ​strikes in late February, is now in its seventh month.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz renewed ​warnings that Israel would “cripple” Iran’s military and civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities.

A US campaign to throttle Iran’s economy by blockading its oil exports and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior ​Iranian sources said.

“The combination of renewed US-Iran hostilities and ongoing uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz ​has been enough to reprice risk higher, even while actual tanker flows have not collapsed,” said Tim Waterer, chief ‌market analyst ⁠at KCM Trade.

Four commodity vessels transited the key Strait of Hormuz waterway on Thursday, down from nine a day earlier and well below the 10-day average tally of about 15, preliminary shipping data showed.

Iraq increased its August oil exports to about 2.34 million barrels per day from about 1.35 million bpd ​in July, two Iraqi ​energy officials said on ⁠Wednesday.

Analysts turned more bullish on prices as concerns grew over the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint that handled about one-fifth of global oil and ​liquefied natural gas supplies before the conflict began in late February.

Citi raised ​its average Brent ⁠crude price forecast for the third quarter to $86 a barrel from $80, saying the reopening of the strait is taking longer than previously expected.

ANZ analysts also raised their Brent crude forecast on Friday to $95 a ⁠barrel in ​the short term, with upside risk if the Middle East ​conflict intensifies.

Elsewhere, fear of supply disruptions due to renewed hostilities between the US and Iran and attacks on Russian refineries by ​Ukraine pushed average US diesel prices to record highs.