Crude oil futures rose more than 1 percent on Friday, on news that some buyers have stopped or scaled back imports of Iranian oil due to Western sanctions that seek to rein in Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
Crude exports from Iran appear to have dropped this month to around 300,000 barrels per day, or 14 percent, estimates by UK industry consultant Petrologistics and a large European oil company show.
Oil futures also rose on rumors that Israel was mobilizing its forces. Israel later denied any such move.
A mixed report on U.S. housing, in which single family home sales fell in February while prices jump to an eight-month high caused crude futures to pare gains.
Even with the day's gains, however, U.S. crude oil futures ended the week down for a second week in a row.
