Oil Prices Set for First Weekly Dip of the Year

Crude oil prices were set for their first weekly decline since the start of the year as the risk of a direct military confrontation between the United States and Iran de-escalated. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $68.09 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was changing hands for $63.95 per barrel, both slightly up from Thursday’s close but down from Monday. Oil prices had been on a climb for seven weeks in a row, driven higher mostly by U.S. foreign policy in various parts of the world. The Iran nuclear issue has been…