(RTTNews) – Oil prices ticked higher on Friday after falling sharply in the previous session on concerns over weaker global demand.
Brent crude futures rose 0.9 percent to $87.85 a barrel, after having fallen over 2 percent in the previous session to snap a six-day advance on forecasts of weaker global demand and data showing a sharp build in U.S. crude inventories.
WTI crude futures were up 1.3 percent at $82.34 a barrel as talks to end the Middle East conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained deadlocked.
The United States indicated that it would maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran amid stalemate in talks.
The United Arab Emirates has condemned Iran for attacking two ships linked to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the situation was “brought under control.”
The Emirati Foreign Ministry accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of committing “acts of piracy” and using Hormuz for “economic coercion or blackmail”.
Iran attributed oil pollution along the shores of Qeshm Island to the effects of foreign aggression.
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