After President Trump eased some of the sanctions he imposed on the energy industry in Venezuela, crude oil prices fell more than 1% on Friday.
Still, the growing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, especially whether there might be a possible U.S. military attack against Iran, OPEC’s biggest oil partner, has the potential to send prices higher.
After reaching more than $70 a barrel on Thursday, Brent crude, the global benchmark slipped 1.3 and settled at $68.68 a barrel. The U.S. standard, West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 1.4% before closing at $64.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Natural gas prices soared again on Friday, perhaps in anticipation of the anticipated weekend blizzard that was to hit the Northeastern state. Gas finished the day at $4.354 MMBtu after a gain of $0.436 or 11.13%.
A slim majority of Oklahoma energy stocks recorded gains to finish the week’s trading as Empire Petroleum rose 6% while Stardust Power dropped 7%.