US says talks in Qatar could reach Gaza ceasefire agreement
US gasoline product supplied slips below 9 mln bblsEIA

SINGAPORE, March 22 Reuters Oil prices slipped on Friday on the possibility of a nearing Gaza ceasefire that could ease geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, while a stronger dollar and faltering U.S. gasoline demand also weighed on prices.

Brent crude futures fell 53 cents, or 0.6, to 85.25 a barrel by 0651 GMT. U.S. crude futures shed 52 cents, or 0.6, to 80.55 per barrel.

Both contracts are set to end the week flat or down slightly after rising more than 3 last week.

Oil was trading lower on reports of a U.N. draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and as another round of profittaking kicked in, IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.

A ceasefire would help calm fears that the situation in Gaza might spread more broadly across the region, he said. Additionally, it may encourage the Houthis to stand down and allow oil tankers to pass through the Red Sea, which would also be a positive development in terms of helping to balance out the supply and demand dynamics.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday he believed talks in Qatar could reach a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Blinken met Arab foreign ministers and Egypt39;s President Abdel Fattah ElSisi in Cairo as negotiators in Qatar centred on a truce of about six weeks.

In the United States, the world39;s top oil consumer, gasoline product supplied, a…