Meanwhile, supertanker rates could soar even further on geopolitical tensions: File Image/Pixabay

Oil on Friday logged an impressive weekly gain of over 5 percent on growing suspicion the U.S. will abandon any diplomacy over the next 10 days and strike Iran with the intention of forcing a regime change.

Brent was up 5.5 percent for the week and West Texas Intermediate gained 5.4 percent; Brent for the day settled up 10 cents to $71.76 per barrel and WTI settled down 4 cents to $66.39.

The dip was somewhat surprising considering tensions between Washington and Tehran have reached the flashpoint, with the latter reportedly planning a joint naval exercise with Russia; this was in the wake of the Islamic republic closing the Strait of Hormuz for military drills.

Bloomberg noted that the U.S. is carrying out the biggest military buildup in the region since 2003, before the invasion of Iraq, and  "That suggests [U.S. president Donald] Trump may launch a far more sweeping campaign than the overnight attack against Iran's nuclear program last June."

Still, "Market focus has clearly shifted to escalating Middle East tensions after the failure of multiple rounds of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, even as investors debate whether any actual disruption will materialise," said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

Ole Hvalbye, an analyst at SEB, added, "Despite this morning's minor pullback, we continue to see room for further upside under the current geopolitical backdrop."

If nothing else, the ratcheting up of tensions could cause rates in the supertanker market to soar: according to data from the Baltic Exchange, the daily rate for hiring a supertanker on the key Middle East-to-China route has jumped  threefold since the beginning of the year to over $150,000. 

Anoop Singh, global head of shipping research at Oil Brokerage Ltd, said, "Military action in the Middle East will likely take VLCC rates to levels not seen since 2019."

Friday's oil trading was also said to have been affected significantly by the U.S. Supreme Court killing Trump's tariffs imposed on countries around the world, which critics worried would jeopardize economies and fuel demand.

Moving forward, trading may be affected by several factors aside from geopolitical tensions: U.S. manufacturing output logged its biggest monthly gain in 11 months in January, and weekly jobless claims fell.