Oil prices rose at the start of the week with escalated tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
International benchmark Brent crude saw a 1.04% gain during weekly trading, registering at $63.71 per barrel at 1120 GMT on Friday after it started Monday at $63.05 a barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $56.38 a barrel on Friday at the same time for a 0.28% rise after opening the previous session at $56.22 per barrel.
Brent oil was trading at $63.43 per barrel at 0651 GMT on Monday with a 1.27% gain after it ended last Friday at $62.62 a barrel.
WTI was at $56.21 a barrel on Monday at the same time for a 0.80% boost after closing the previous session at $55.76 per barrel.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said last Friday that it confiscated a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the seizure by British Royal Marines of an Iranian-flagged oil tanker off Gibraltar on July 4.
To further escalate market supply concerns, Libya’s El-Sharara oilfield was shut down due to suspected valve closure, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) confirmed last Saturday. The El-Sharara oilfield produces more than 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day, forming roughly one third of the oil-rich country's production.
U.S. crude oil inventories also fell more than expected last week, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil stocks fell by 10.8 million barrels, or 2.4%, to 445 million barrels for the week ending July 19, the EIA data showed. However, the market expectation was a decline of 4 million barrels.
The higher-than-expected drop in U.S. stockpiles pushed oil prices higher on Wednesday.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr