By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices slipped on Friday on the possibility of a nearing Gaza ceasefire that could ease geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, while a stronger dollar and faltering U.S. gasoline demand also weighed on prices.
futures fell 53 cents, or 0.6%, to $85.25 a barrel by 0651 GMT. futures shed 52 cents, or 0.6%, to $80.55 per barrel.
Both contracts are set to end the week flat or down slightly after rising more than 3% last week.
Oil was trading lower on reports of a U.N. draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and as another round of profit-taking kicked in, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.
“A ceasefire would help calm fears that the situation in Gaza might spread more broadly across the region,” he said. “Additionally, it may encourage the Houthis to stand down and allow oil tankers to pass through the Red Sea, which would also be a positive development in terms of helping to balance out the supply and demand dynamics.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he believed talks in Qatar could reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Blinken met Arab foreign ministers and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo as negotiators in Qatar centred on a truce of about six weeks.
In the United States, the world’s top oil consumer, gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, slipped below 9 million barrels for the first time in three weeks, indicating a possible slowdown in crude demand.
However, consultancy FGE said preliminary weekly data for the first half of March that showed on-land crude and main product stocks at major oil hubs globally falling by almost 12 million barrels, compared with the 2015 to 2019 average draw of 6 million barrels, could be bullish for oil.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar, which trades inversely with oil prices, strengthened after the Swiss National Bank’s surprise interest rate cut bolstered global risk sentiment.
A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for investors holding other currencies, dampening demand.
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