Oil rebounds as Brent remains on track for steep weekly drop

Oil prices rose Thursday after falling sharply the previous session, as traders weighed prospects for diplomacy over the war with Iran against risks to Gulf shipping. The rebound did not erase the week’s losses: on Friday morning, Brent was still on course for a 16% weekly decline, according to a market report, while West Texas Intermediate was projected to fall 13%. Those weekly changes remained forecasts, not final settlement figures. At 8:46 a.m. ET Friday, January Brent futures were $98.55 a barrel, up 0.3%. WTI futures were $91.09, up 0.6%. On Thursday, Brent had gained 3.61% to $98.04 and WTI rose 2.64% to $90.45, according to reported futures prices. A separate report put Thursday’s WTI settlement at $90.52, up 2.72% from Wednesday’s settlement of $88.12. The moves followed a fall of more than 8% in both benchmarks on Wednesday. Traders had initially seen the U.S. midterm election results as increasing pressure on President Donald Trump to end the conflict, which began in February with U.S. and Israeli action against Iran. By Thursday, concerns about the war’s unresolved course and tanker incidents were supporting prices again. Iran was reviewing proposals delivered...