Oil set for third weekly decline as Middle East conflict concerns ebb

Oil prices were up slightly on Friday but are set to fall for a third week as concerns of supply disruptions from the Israel-Hamas conflict have ebbed, allowing demand worries to reassert themselves. Brent crude futures for January were up 40 cents, or 0.5%, at $80.41 a barrel at 0729 GMT, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were at $76.04, up 30 cents, or 0.4%. Brent futures are down 5.7% this week while WTI has declined 5.9% since last week. The three weeks of declines are the longest weekly losing streak for both contracts since…