Oil prices set to decline further

Brent crude futures dropped 26 cents or 0.3% to $75.70 a barrel by 0736 GMT, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures eased 22 cents, also a drop of 0.3%, to $70.94.

Both benchmarks slid by around $1 on Thursday, rebounding from their earlier losses of more than $3, after the U.S. and Iran both denied a report by the Middle East Eye that they were close to a nuclear deal.

For the week, they are on track for losses of about 1%, similar to last week.

Oil prices had risen early in the week following Saudi Arabia’s pledge over the weekend for deep output cuts, but they pared gains on a rise in U.S. fuel stocks and weakness in Chinese export data.