Concern also lingers about Iran/Oman deal even though it seems dead in the water: File Image/Pixabay

Oil on Friday achieved minimal gains based mainly on a U.S. jobs report, with concerns of an Iran/Oman proposal to re-open the Strait of Hormuz also influencing trading; however, mobilization of Iranian military for a potential strike against Saudi Arabia was all but overlooked.

As of 1528 GMT, Brent was up 84 cents at $83.33 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate climbed 89 cents to $78.18, in response to the U.S. federal government reporting that 23,000 jobs were lost in July.

Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc., said, "The market on Friday is all about the jobs report…It means there's less likely to be intervention by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates."

Meanwhile, analysts continued to be concerned over a proposed deal between Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over ships trying to transit the waterway.

CNBC reported that under the plan, “Iran would ban U.S. and Israeli ships from transiting the Strait; other nations favourable to those countries would have to pay compensation to use the waterway, and violators would have to pay 20 percent of the value of cargo aboard a ship.

Bjarne Schieldrop, analyst at SEB Research, said, "The structure of the Iran-Oman agreement in its current form and the power it yields to Iran is nothing that [U.S. President Donald] Trump can accept politically."

Left to the sidelines on Friday were military analysts who warned that Saudi Arabia was facing an attack by Iranian allies in Iraq and Yemen.

Intelligence reports from the Saudis and the U.S. warned  that drones and missiles were being moved in preparation for potential strikes against energy infrastructure, ports, and airports.

This came on the same day the Saudis, Turkey and Pakistan signed a defense agreement stipulating that “any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”

Despite so many indications that the U.S./Iran war would not only continue but broaden, financial institutions retreated from their initial bearish calls regarding the price of oil.

Citi on Friday left its fourth-quarter Brent forecast unchanged at $70 per barrel and still sees the benchmark averaging $65 in 2027; in early July it recommended selling summer rallies and predicted Brent would fall to $60-$65 by year-end as Washington and Tehran moved toward a broader agreement.

But by contrast, Goldman Sachs earlier this week said Brent should remain between $80 and $90 until  an agreement or a significant escalation in attacks is confirmed, and it also raised the possibility of $120 oil if the Hormuz remained closed for much longer.