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2019.06.2106:37:00UTC+00Oil Prices Extend Rally Amid Middle East Tensions

Oil prices extended gains from the previous session on Friday after the New York Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had approved targeted military strikes against Iran in retaliation for shooting down a U.S. drone, before pulling back at the last minute.

Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down on Thursday night, the New York Times quoted an unnamed official as saying.

Benchmark Brent crude rallied by 80 cents or 1.25 percent to $65.25 a barrel, after having jumped 4.3 percent on Thursday. The benchmark was on track to post its first weekly gain in five weeks.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 45 cents or 0.8 percent at $57.51 a barrel, after having jumped as much as 5.4 percent the previous day. The benchmark remains on track to post a 9 percent gain for the week.

Iran seems not keen on peace talks. Reuters reported, citing Iranian officials that Trump had passed a message to Tehran via Oman warning that an attack on Iran was imminent.

"He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran's immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei to decide about this issue," an anonymous Iranian official told the news agency.

The risk of conflict between Washington and Tehran has been rising as U.S. sanctions on Iran have severely reduced oil exports from OPEC's third largest producer.

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