Tokyo — Oil prices slipped on Friday in quiet trading after three days of gains, but took support from Saudi Arabia halting crude transport through a key shipping lane, falling US inventories and easing trade tension between Washington and Europe. Brent futures were down 22c or 0.3% at $74.32 a barrel by 2.36am GMT, after gaining 0.8% on Thursday. US West Texas Intermediate futures were 7c lower at $69.54, after posting a nearly 0.5% gain the previous session. Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, noted trading volumes were about a quarter of the daily average with very little news to drive the market. "We are looking forward to the inventory numbers next week," he said. US President Donald Trump and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker struck a surprise deal on Wednesday that ended the risk of an immediate trade war between the two powers. A trade war would probably hit demand for commodities including oil, which is used heavily in shippin...
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