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Crude oil prices were down on Jan. 8 having lost gains recorded in the previous sessions after U.S. President Donald Trump's comments to calm tensions in the Middle East.

"Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned," Trump said on Jan. 8 amid Iran's attack on two locations in Iraq earlier in the day.

Crude oil prices were up around 2 percent at trading start on Jan. 6 with escalated tensions in the Middle East risking secure crude oil supply from the region.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $70.17 per barrel at 0630 GMT for a 2.3 percent jump after it closed on Jan. 3 at $68.60 a barrel with a 3.55 percent increase in intraday trading.

Design Boom  -  The london mastaba, a temporary sculpture by world-renowned artist christo, has opened in london's hyde park.the public work, which consists of horizontally stacked colorful barrels on a floating platform, will be on view until september 23, 2018 on the park's serpentine lake.

The price of oil fell during the Asian session after the reported surprise growth in US stocks. Impacts also came from expecting Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other manufacturers to decide if they will increase their production at the June meeting, Reuters reported.

DUBAI: Bahrain on Sunday announced it has discovered the largest oil and gas field in the history of the small kingdom, which unlike its Gulf neighbours is not energy-rich.

Authorities estimate the newfound reserves at "many times" the volume of Bahrain's only other known oil field, the state-run BNA news agency said.

Iran's crude oil exports in July are set to fall 7 percent from this month's three-month high, mainly due to a decline in exports to Europe, a person with knowledge of the Middle Eastern country's tanker loading schedule said.

Oil prices continued to fall on Thursday after substantial losses the previous day, dragged down by a surge in US inventories.

The major benchmarks were down over a dollar with Brent crude trading at $51.87 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate was at $49.05 during afternoon trading, falling below $50 per barrel for the first time since December.

The flow of crude oil from northern Iraq?s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) via Turkey?s Ceyhan Port has reached up to 650,000 barrels a day, from only around 2,300 barrels last March, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z has said. 

Global oil prices hit 2015 peaks on May 6 as fresh tensions in oil producer Libya raised concerns about a supply disruption in the Middle East, analysts said.

The market was meanwhile awaiting the latest snapshot of oil inventories in the United States, which is the world's top crude consuming nation.

An oil exploration firm said on April 9 that it had discovered 100 billion barrels of oil in the ground next to Gatwick Airport outside London.

Although only between three and 15 percent of the total is likely to be extractable, UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) said the Horse Hill well in Surrey, southwest England, was a "world class potential resource".