Crude oil prices gain for second day but set for worst week since June; Details here

Oil prices saw gains in early Asia trading on Friday, April 10, advancing for the second day in a row, but are on course to report their worst weekly performance since June last year.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or the US crude futures continue to trade between $98 to $100 a barrel, while Brent closed near $96, having briefly tested $100 in overnight trading. Despite this, prices are still down over 10% for the week.

Crude had a sharp fall earlier this week after US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire to negotiate a settlement agreement. Prices are now monitoring any resumption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and whether the fragile settlement between the warring parties holds.

The focus though, has now shifted to supply concerns even after a settlement agreement is reached.

According to Saudi Arabia's press agency, the country's oil production capacity has been cut by around 6,00,000 barrels per day due to attacks on its energy infrastructure, that is nearly 10% of its normal crude exports, as per Bloomberg calculations.

The report also stated that strikes on a pumping station for the East-West pipeline, which Saudi has used to export crude through the Red Sea, affected daily throughput by 7,00,000 barrels this week.

“The drop in East-West pipeline throughput weakens Saudi’s Hormuz bypass strategy and highlights persistent supply risks,” said Mohith Velamala, a global oil analyst at BloombergNEF. “This further complicates crude availability in Asia.”

Spotlight is also on Islamabad, where US Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the US delegation in discussions with Iranian officials on Saturday. The Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint in the energy transit, will remain the main subject of discussion.

Oil markets have been extremely turbulent since the war began, forcing traders to hold smaller positions for shorter periods as they run into risk limits. Prices have swung by an average of more than $9 a day since the conflict began, the largest daily swings in years.

(With Inputs From Agencies)