HOUSTON: Prices climbed over $1 a barrel for Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude on Friday as investors grew worried talks between Iran and US representatives were not making enough progress to prevent military action.

Brent crude futures climbed $1.21 a barrel, or 1.79 per cent, to $68.76 at 11:30 a.m. CST (1730 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.01, or 1.6pc, at $64.30 a barrel.

Iran and the United States held negotiations via Omani mediation on Friday to try to overcome sharp differences over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“Going into next week, you don’t know if there is going to be an attack or not,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group.

Iranian state TV reported in late afternoon that the talks had ended. Iran’s foreign minister said negotiators will return to their capitals for consultations, and the talks will continue.

Ahead of the talks, a lack of consensus on the agenda for the meeting kept investors anxious about geopolitical risk, as Iran wanted to stick to nuclear issues, while the US wanted to discuss Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region.

Any escalation of tension between the two nations could disrupt oil flows, since about a fifth of the world’s total consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, as does fellow Opec member Iran.

If the prospect of conflict in the region eases, oil prices could decline further.

Kazakhstan’s planned oil exports could fall by as much as 35pc this month via its main route through Russia, four trading sources have told Reuters, as the giant Tengiz oilfield slowly recovers from fires at power facilities in January.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026