In Brief: Oil drops 5pc on Iran worries

Oil tumbled 5 per cent on Friday, erasing the previous session’s gains, as Yemen’s conflict looked less likely to disrupt Middle East crude shipments, and investors turned their focus to talks for a potential Iran nuclear deal that could put more supply on the market.

Oil prices still notched their second straight weekly gain, boosted by the dollar’s weakness in recent sessions. US crude had its biggest weekly gain in more than a month. US crude and global benchmark Brent oil spent most of the session in a tight range, down about 2 per cent. But they fell sharply in late trading.