Oil rises after US Navy downs Iranian drone; set for weekly fall

LONDON: Oil prices rose on Friday as tensions spiked again in the Middle East after the United States said it had destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, a major chokepoint for global crude flows.

Benchmark crude prices were still on track for their biggest weekly decline in seven weeks, however, having fallen sharply earlier in the week on concerns over global oil demand amid slowing economic growth.

Brent crude futures were up 1.11 cents, or 1.78 per cent, at $63.04 a barrel by 1037 GMT, having risen as high as $63.32. Brent fell 2.7 per cent on Thursday, its fourth straight session of losses, and was set for a weekly drop of around 5 per cent.