Oil
Oil prices settled at their highest in over a week on Friday after US President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure against Iran through more sanctions on vessels that transport its oil. He also announced an armada was heading towards the nation.
Brent crude futures settled at $65.88, and US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) finished at $61.07. For the week, both benchmarks rose 2.7%.
Trump renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme. Warships, including an aircraft carrier and destroyers, will arrive in the Middle East in the coming days, a US official said.
The US on Friday also imposed sanctions on nine vessels and eight related firms involved in transporting Iranian oil and petroleum products. The escalating pressure has caused concerns of oil supply disruptions in the Middle East.
Gas
Asia spot liquefied natural gas rose for a second week to hit a nine-week high, as lower winter temperatures across the northern hemisphere lifted heating demand.
The average LNG price for February delivery into north-east Asia was $11.35 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), up from $10.10 per mmBtu the week before.
However, Asian prices are still below European ones, where cold conditions also increased heating demand across the continent. The premium on LNG remained in Europe and caused several vessels to change course to Europe.
The Dutch TTF gas price settled at $13.66 per mmBtu, posting a weekly gain of 7.3%. The market is also bracing for a potential downturn in US LNG exports this weekend because of an exceptionally cold weather pattern sweeping over most of the southern US, where most LNG export infrastructure is located.
