Oil prices advanced for a second consecutive session on Friday, positioning the market for a third straight weekly increase as investors weighed potential supply disruptions from Venezuela and Iran. Benchmark Oil – Brent Crude futures climbed about 0.7% to $62.39 per barrel in early trading, while U.S. Oil – US Crude (WTI) also moved higher. The gains reflect heightened uncertainty over Venezuelan export stability amid domestic challenges and rising concern that unrest in Iran could threaten output, reinforcing the risk premium in crude markets despite a relatively balanced global demand outlook.
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Over the past month, price performance has diverged slightly between the key benchmarks, with U.S. crude down about 0.25% and Brent up roughly 0.58%, suggesting modest relative support for seaborne international grades versus U.S. domestic barrels. From a short-term technical standpoint, both WTI and Brent currently flash a Hold and Hold signal, respectively, indicating that recent upside driven by geopolitical risk has not yet translated into a clear directional bias for momentum-driven traders. Investors can explore more updates, prices, and analysis across global markets at Commodities.