Oil prices have slightly decreased after the possibility of an imminent US missile strike on Syria appears to be slim.
Despite the fall, prices are set for their biggest weekly gains in more than eight months, according to Reuters.
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US president Donald Trump appeared to back off from an imminent missile attack on Syria, as can be viewed from his tweet which stated the offensive measure ‘could be very soon or not so soon at all’.
The development comes after Trump indicated on Wednesday that military action would be carried out in Syria, and Saudi Arabia stated that it intercepted missiles over Riyadh.
The potential US attack was expected to impact global supplies.
NYMEX crude for May delivery fell by 16 cents, or 0.2%, to reach $66.91 per barrel.
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By GlobalDataThe contract is expected to post a gain of around 8% for the week, after posting declines for two weeks.
London Brent crude decreased by 18 cents, or 0.2%, to trade at $71.84 a barrel.
Both benchmarks have witnessed an increase of about $5 this week and are on course to post their biggest weekly gains since July last year.
On Wednesday, the contracts soared to their respective highest levels since 2014.
Mitsubishi senior oil risk manager Tony Nunan was quoted by the news agency as saying: “This last jump of $5 or so is because of the geopolitical situation caused by the situation in Syria.
“It looks like Trump backed off a little bit. That’s not to say that we can’t go up just based on fundamentals because the market supply demand is tight.”
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stated that a global oil stocks surplus is expected to evaporate by September.
The total production of the OPEC member nations declined by 201,000 barrels per day to 31.96 million barrels per day in March from February.
Despite signs of evaporation of the supply glut, OPEC is expected to extend its initiative to cut output into next year.
