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Oil prices fell on Friday as possible further talks between the U.S. and Iran at the weekend and a 10-day ceasefire between ​Lebanon and Israel raised investor hopes that the war in the Middle East could be nearing an end.

Brent crude futures declined by $3.09, or ​3.11%, ​to $96.30 a barrel at 0942 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $4.01, or 4.23%, to $90.68 a barrel.

"Oil prices are reacting very sensitively to escalation or de-escalation headlines," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, after ⁠U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that an Iran deal "is very close" on Thursday.

At those levels, Brent futures were heading for a 1.2% gain for the week, and WTI futures were on track for a 6% drop from last Friday's close.

Addressing a key sticking point in talks to end the Iran war, Trump said Tehran had offered ​not to possess nuclear weapons ‌for more than ⁠20 years.

"We're going ⁠to see what happens. But I think we're very close to making a deal with Iran," Trump told reporters outside the White ​House on Thursday.

Oil prices have fallen below $100 per barrel but remained elevated this ‌week above $90, off the back of 50% rises in March.

The temporary nature ⁠of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, Israel's goal of significantly weakening the Iranian regime, and unlikely prospects for the Strait of Hormuz reopening immediately all provided a floor to prices, PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.

Israel's campaign in Lebanon has been a major obstacle to securing a peace deal sought by Trump to end the war he launched with Israel in late February.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators have scaled back their expectations for a comprehensive peace deal and are instead seeking a temporary memorandum to prevent a return to conflict, two Iranian sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Also on Friday, France and Britain will chair a meeting of around 40 nations aimed at signalling to the ‌U.S. that its allies are ready to play a role in restoring flows ⁠through the Strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.

"Once the dust settles the hard ​work begins getting the ships in and out, and getting them into the right locations. There is no doubt a normalization is still months away and the current tightness will continue to underpin the refined product market," Saxo Bank analyst Ole ​Hansen said.

Analysts from ‌ING estimate that roughly 13 million barrels per day of oil flow has been ⁠disrupted by the closure of the Strait.

(Reporting by ​Robert Harvey in London, Helen Clark in Perth; Editing by Sonali Paul and Joe Bavier)