Crude prices were little changed Friday, with stalled US-Iran diplomacy offsetting tentative signs of a recovery in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped by 0.10% to $83.44 per barrel, while Brent futures eased by 0.35% to $89.39/bbl.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly reiterated Friday that the administration was not scheduled to hold talks with Iran, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Trump administration has told mediators it does not intend to return to the terms of the memorandum of understanding it reached with Iran in June.
However, Iran struck a more measured tone. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X Friday, "Putting diplomacy back on track isn't impossible."
Meanwhile, Washington moved to tighten financial pressure on Tehran Friday.
The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a rule to revoke Banque Misr UAE's correspondent banking access to US financial institutions as part of Operation Economic Outcast.
"Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left and finally end the threat of the Iranian regime," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctioned the manager of Bank Melli's Dubai branch, along with a Hong Kong-based front company that helped launder funds for a sanctioned Iranian exchange house.
Separately, Venezuela is considering leaving OPEC, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the development.
The move comes amid improving US-Venezuela relations following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro, while Washington has taken control of Venezuelan oil sales, ING analysts said.
Executives from several energy companies plan to sign oil production agreements in Caracas next week, with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright also expected to travel to Venezuela, the WSJ reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Goldman Sachs estimates crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz have recovered to about two-thirds of prewar levels, while transit volumes have reached 6 million barrels per day to 8 million b/d, analysts at Saxo Bank said.
According to RBC Capital Markets, US naval escorts appear to be supporting higher Hormuz exports through ship-to-ship transfers and tanker shuttle operations, with exports from inside the strait running about 1 million b/d above the four-week average last week.
However, flows through the strait remain far below normal, according to Gelber and Associates.
"Strait throughput remains near 5% of its prewar baseline, and it had a brief daily rebound that is yet to develop into a sustained recovery," Gelber and Associates said in a Friday note.
With US-Iran negotiations stalled and traffic still severely constrained, the decline reflects growing confidence in alternative routes rather than a genuine normalization of Gulf flows, G&A said. Flows are improving through workarounds, but the waterway has not normalized and the geopolitical situation remains unresolved.
They added that stronger Saudi loadings and Iraq's offer to transfer crude outside the Persian Gulf indicate that regional producers are finding ways to move supply without relying on normal passage through the strait.