Oil Prices Today: Oil prices declined on Friday and are on track to snap a two-week winning streak, despite settling higher in the previous session following a report that United States President Donald Trump is not interested in returning to previous deal terms with Iran.
Brent crude futures were down 25 cents to $89.45
Brent crude futures were down 25 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to USD 89.45 a barrel by 0035 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 22 cents, also 0.3 per cent, to USD 83.31, Reuters reported.
Both benchmarks were poised to end the week lower, with Brent down 5.3 per cent and WTI falling 4.3 per cent, the Reuters report said.
US says ‘not in talks’ with Iran
Citing people familiar with the matter, Wall Street Journal report said the Trump administration has repeatedly told mediators it has no interest in reviving the June memorandum of understanding, complicating diplomatic efforts to restart talks.
Earlier on Thursday, Washington said it was not in talks with Iran despite diplomatic efforts by other countries to re-engage the two sides.
On Monday, the US announced what it called the “toughest sanctions in history” on Iran. Tehran said the sanctions were an “inhumane and hostile act” that had lost their effectiveness.
OPEC+ loses oil market sway in Iran war
Six months into the Iran war, the world’s most powerful oil alliance, OPEC+, finds itself in an unfamiliar position: unable to influence a market it once helped shape, Reuters reported.
The war, which has shut a major export route for Middle Eastern oil and damaged energy infrastructure in several OPEC countries, has eroded the group’s market share and, with it, its ability to affect prices. Its statements and policy decisions barely move oil markets anymore, the Reuters report added.
Instead, cuts in Chinese crude imports have emerged as one of the dominant themes of 2026, helping to balance oil markets amid what analysts describe as the worst-ever supply disruption.
OPEC+ — the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia — accounted for about 40 per cent of global oil output in July, according to Reuters calculations based on International Energy Agency data.
That’s down from more than 48 per cent before the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, although about four to five percentage points of the decline were due to the United Arab Emirates’ withdrawal from OPEC in May.
