Oil set to close lower for second straight week

Oil prices fell in early trading on Friday and were set to close lower for a second straight week, as rising prospects of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal offset concerns over supply disruptions from a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers. Brent crude futures fell 9 cents, or 0.2%, to $59.73 a barrel by 0111 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was trading 16 cents, or 0.3% lower, at $55.99 a barrel. On a weekly basis, both benchmarks were down more than 2%. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he believes talks toward ending the war in Ukraine are “getting close to something” ahead of a U.S. meeting with Russian officials this weekend. In the other potential geopolitical catalyst, it was not immediately clear how the U.S. would enforce Trump’s announcement to blockade tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela, which makes up around 1% of global supplies. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Coast Guard last week seized a Venezuelan oil tanker.