By Robert Harvey

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were heading for a weekly gain of almost 3% as Friday’s prices ticked higher, with traders kept on edge by simmering tensions in the Middle East ahead of a planned resumption in Gaza ceasefire talks in the coming days.

futures rose 76 cents, or 1.02%, to $75.14 a barrel by 1214 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 77 cents, or 1.1%, at $70.96.

Both benchmarks have fluctuated this week, rising on Monday and Tuesday before falling on Wednesday and Thursday, largely on expectations of heightened or reduced Middle East risk.

“Uncertainty makes investors understandably and justifiably pragmatic,” said PVM analyst John Evans. “Fears of supply disruptions subsided but, rest assured, they have not gone AWOL.”

Investors continue to await Israel’s response to an Iranian missile attack on Oct. 1. A response could involve strikes on Tehran’s oil infrastructure, though media reports last week said Israel would strike military rather than nuclear or oil targets.

U.S. and Israeli officials are set to restart talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza in the coming days.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the United States does not want a protracted Israeli campaign in Lebanon, while France has called for a ceasefire and focus on diplomacy.

Investors are also seeking more clarity on China’s stimulus policies, though analysts do not expect such measures to provide a major boost to oil demand.

Goldman Sachs on Thursday left its oil price forecasts unchanged at between $70 and $85 a barrel for Brent in 2025, expecting the impact from any Chinese stimulus to be modest relative to bigger drivers such as Middle East oil supply.

Bank of America is forecasting Brent crude to average $75 a barrel in 2025 without any rolling back of OPEC+ production cuts into next year, it said in a note on Friday.

“Market participants remain fundamentally torn between supply risks due to the tense situation in the Middle East and demand concerns,” Commerzbank (ETR:) analysts said.

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Top executives of two U.S. energy pipeline operators on Thursday ruled out building new lines to move volumes out of the Permian shale field in West Texas because of tepid volume growth and difficulties constructing new lines.

A wave of consolidation in the top U.S. shale field has concentrated output in the hands of companies that are promising to restrain output so as not to crash prices by over-producing. Pipeline firms also have embraced acquisitions over new construction.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:) co-CEO Jim Teague said at a Houston energy conference his firm is not considering a new oil pipeline out of West Texas. The CEO of rival operator Plains All American Pipeline said at the same event companies are more likely to optimize existing rather than build new lines.

Enbridge (NYSE:) will add up to 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its Gray Oak oil pipeline by 2026, an example of expanding capacity on an existing pipeline. Enterprise has said it could convert a liquids pipeline to carry crude.

Shale pipeline operator EPIC Consolidated Operations is weighing expanding a Permian to south Texas line by about 300,000 bpd.

The expansion is a “when, not an if,” said EPIC CEO Brian Freed.

PRICE NO LONGER INCENTIVIZES DRILLERS

The executives said Permian shale producers are not likely to return to their era of fast-growth that prompted the construction of new oil lines last decade.

Drillers remain disciplined in their spending for new volumes and do not look to drill and grow production even if prices jump from current levels, Chiang added.

“A range of roughly of $60 to $90 (per barrel) doesn’t change their plans too much,” he said.

Output from the Permian basin in the next few years could rise about 300,000 bpd, he said, largely in line with the latest government estimate.

“Most of the producers out of the Permian, because of the consolidation, are taking a more measured pace,” EPIC’s Freed said.

DEEPWATER EXPORT PROJECTS LAG

Enterprise’ Teague also said that his company continues to advance its proposed deepwater oil export project, Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT), but “nobody wants to be (the) first” customer to sign up.

Multi-year regulatory delays, a loss of commercial backers and slowing U.S. shale oil production growth has SPOT and three rival offshore oil-export projects struggling.

A change in crude flows as many Western nations banned imports of Russian crude after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, pushing Russian oil to flow to Asia, also has undercut the outlook for U.S. deepwater export projects that can load supertanker directly.

“Things have changed, but my gut feeling is that we’ll be able to get SPOT across the finish line,” Teague said while speaking at an RBN Energy conference in Houston.

However, Plain’s Chiang said “the jury is out on SPOT,” saying it while it makes a lot of sense on paper, existing export contracts and systems could limit availability of customers.

Investing.com– Gold prices fell slightly in Asian trade on Friday, remaining in sight of record highs hit earlier this week as anticipation of a tight U.S. presidential election kept traders biased towards safe havens.

While the yellow metal did notch new highs, it struggled to hold its peaks amid pressure from a stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields. Still, gold was set for mild weekly gains in its third consecutive week of gains. 

Safe haven demand was also boosted by persistent concerns over worsening geopolitical conditions in the Middle East.  

fell 0.4% to $2,724.55 an ounce, while expiring in December fell 0.4% to $2,737.05 an ounce by 00:30 ET (04:30 GMT). Spot gold was set to rise about 0.2% this week after hitting a record high of $2,758.53 an ounce. 

Election, M.East jitters keep gold underpinned. 

Safe haven demand for gold was buoyed by uncertainty over the U.S. election, with less than two weeks left to the ballot.

Republican nominee Donald Trump was seen gaining an edge over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to recent polls and prediction markets. 

But with the race still too tight to call, markets remained largely risk-averse, fueling demand for gold.

Increased tensions in the Middle East also dented risk appetite, after Israel presented a harsh rhetoric against Iran this week. Markets are awaiting a retaliatory strike by Israel against Tehran over an early-October attack.

A particular point of concern is that Israel will attack Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities, which could mark a dire escalation in the conflict. 

The conflict between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah also showed little signs of de escalation, despite persistent U.S. attempts to broker peace. 

Other precious metals fell on Friday. sank 1.5% to $1,022.95 an ounce and were trading flat for the week, while fell 0.5% to $33.635 an ounce, but were up 1.2% this week. 

Copper falls, set for fourth week of losses 

Among industrial metals, copper prices fell on Friday and were headed for a fourth week in red as pressure from the dollar and doubts over Chinese stimulus measures pressured the red metal.

Benchmark on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.3% to $9,535.50 a ton, while December fell 0.5% to $4.3457 a pound. Both contracts were down about 1% this week. 

A meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, which was supposed to provide more cues on fiscal stimulus, appeared to be delayed to November from late-October. 

China- the world’s biggest copper importer- had announced a slew of major stimulus measures over the past month. But the measures did little to improve sentiment, as traders sought more details on the timing and scale of the planned measures.