Oil prices trade higher slightly ahead of a long US weekend, with markets citing support from ongoing peace efforts. Brent futures increase by 46 cents, or about 0.64%, to $72.26 a barrel as of around 0407 GMT, according to reports cited across outlets. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also moves up, rising by 32 cents, or roughly 0.47%, to $69.01 a barrel. The overall move is described as modest rather than broad-based, reflecting a cautious near-term outlook as investors weigh geopolitical developments and the impact of holiday-thinned trading in the United States. While the exact pace or details of the “peace efforts” are not specified in the provided excerpts, they are consistently referenced as a factor helping underpin market sentiment. Across the reports, the direction of price change is the same—both key benchmarks gain slightly—indicating that the upward trend is driven by sentiment rather than a major supply or demand shock in the news summaries provided.