After a weak start to the week, crude oil appear set for another weekly gain after the news broke that Israel has rejected a ceasefire offer from Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was “no other solution than total victory,” which contributed to the bullish oil sentiment. According to Bloomberg, oil’s gains this week have offset almost all of the losses from last week, which were prompted by hopes for a ceasefire.

The tensions have kept oil prices elevated, with Brent and WTI both set to gain more than 5% for the week.

U.S. officials made their most pointed criticism so far of Israel's civilian casualties in Gaza as it turned the focus of its offensive to Rafah.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Thursday for ceasefire talks with mediators Egypt and Qatar.

Prices also found support this week after the U.S. Energy Department forecast that domestic crude production would grow slower than originally expected this year, easing worries among traders that the global market is oversupplied.

While the conflict has propped up prices, there has been no real impact on oil production.

Non-OPEC output from Norway and Guyana is increasing while Russia is exporting more crude in February than it planned under an OPEC+ deal, following a combination of drone attacks and technical outages at its refineries.

Fuel card user can expect prices for next week to remain the same as this week with minimal price movement.

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