Oil slips towards $65 as Middle East tensions ease - Reuters

Oil slips towards $65 as Middle East tensions ease - Reuters:

Oil slipped further towards $65 a barrel on Friday as tensions in the Middle East over Iran eased for now and investors focused on rising U.S. inventories and other signs of ample supply.

Iran responded to a U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general on Jan. 3 with a missile attack on Iraqi air bases hosting U.S. forces that left no casualties. But a Revolutionary Guards commander said Iran would take “harsher revenge” soon.

“Hostilities may have ended for the time being, but the longer-term risks of conflict have by no means vanished,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

“Set against this backdrop, the threat of supply disruptions in the Middle East is very much alive.”

Brent crude LCOc1, the global benchmark, was down 27 cents at $65.10 by 1415 GMT, and was heading for its first weekly decline in six weeks, down over 4%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 slipped 33 cents to $59.23.