Oil Posts Biggest Weekly Gain in Two Months on Red Sea Chaos
- Disruption to shipments in waterway drags on as attacks mount
- Shipping chaos partly offset by Russia scaling back curbs
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Oil posted the biggest weekly gain since October as attacks in the Red Sea forced hundreds of ships to take safer but longer routes, delaying the delivery of oil cargoes.
US benchmark WTI edged down to settle below $74 a barrel on Friday as reports that Russia was scaling back its export reductions in January undercut some of the Red Sea risks. Crude was still up 3% for the week. Attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militant group forced more ships take extensive detours to avoid the vital waterway, with disruptions seen lasting through February.