Oil climbs as strikes on Saudi facilities stoke anxiety, Hormuz near standstill

Oil prices climbed on Friday, driven by fresh anxiety over supplies from Saudi Arabia and as tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz remained largely frozen. Prices were still headed for a loss as nerves eased over a fragile two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, while Israel signalled a potential diplomatic opening, saying it was ready to begin direct talks with Lebanon as soon as possible. Brent crude futures added 58 cents, or 0.60%, to $96.50 a barrel as of 0338 GMT. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 49 cents, 0.50%, at $98.36 a barrel. For this week, both contracts have so far lost 11%, the biggest weekly decline since June 2025. Attacks on Saudi energy facilities have cut the kingdom’s oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Thursday, citing an official source at the Ministry of Energy.