A dedicated foreign-exchange facility established by the Reserve Bank of India from October 12 onward stands ready to cover the full daily dollar needs of three state-owned oil marketing companies, providing those firms with assured access to the currency their operations require. Under the arrangement, dollar sales to Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation would flow through designated banks acting as intermediaries for the Reserve Bank of India, according to a news channel report.

The measure will remain active for an indefinite period, the Reserve Bank of India indicated in an official statement carried by a broadcast news outlet. The decision was taken at this juncture with the RBI weighing conditions across financial markets. Designed to cover the three firms' full daily foreign-exchange needs, the dedicated facility carries no fixed end date, with the central bank indicating only that it would remain in place until conditions warrant its withdrawal.

Crude oil prices edged higher by Friday's close as Hurricane Isaias moved toward the northern Gulf of Mexico, with energy operators having pulled back output at facilities accounting for more than 70 per cent of US offshore production capacity, news reports indicated. Crude prices had eased earlier in the trading session after Trump described his Iran talks — aimed at resolving the conflict in the Middle East — as having gone well, while he also pointed to a forthcoming announcement on diesel, the details of which were not disclosed, and indicated he was weighing a suspension of the federal gasoline tax.

Brent crude futures closed the session at USD 104.72 per barrel, a gain of 44 cents that placed the day's advance at 0.42 per cent. West Texas Intermediate crude for US delivery closed the session 36 cents higher at USD 91.85 a barrel, a gain of 0.39 per cent on the day.

Oil markets faced additional downward pressure, according to unverified reports from unnamed sources, after China — the largest buyer of crude on the global market — was said to be preparing to restart refined fuel exports that had been paused during the Golden Week holiday period. Brent and WTI crude benchmarks were both tracking toward gains over the course of the week.

Tamas Varga of PVM Oil Associates attributed downward pressure on oil prices to two converging factors: commitments made by Trump regarding Iran and a resumption of product shipments from China. Oil prices fluctuated across the week as threats to maritime routes through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz — a corridor that, before the conflict began, handled roughly a fifth of the world's oil and fuel by volume — continued to mount.

On Thursday, the president described talks with Iran as moving in a constructive direction and stated that no military action against the country was planned before the November 3 midterm congressional elections, countering earlier media reports that such an option was under consideration. Tasnim, the Iranian news outlet, carried a statement from Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi indicating that Tehran had begun examining the American reply to a proposal under which the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened within a seven-day window.

Sanctions covering individuals, networks, and 17 vessels involved in moving Iranian crude oil, refined products, and petrochemicals have been extended by the United States as part of an ongoing campaign of economic measures against Iran. Supplies of refined petroleum products — among them gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel — have faced disruption as a result of armed hostilities in Iran and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Figures from the US Marine Minerals Administration placed shuttered Gulf of Mexico output at around 1.3 million barrels daily as of Thursday — a share equivalent to nearly 63 per cent of the region's total production — with operators having wound down those volumes ahead of Hurricane Isaias's passage through the area.