Oil steadies after US threatens to blockade Iran indefinitely

PERTH, Aug 14 : Oil prices inched higher on Friday after the U.S. threatened to maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, reviving crude supply concerns, after prices fell in the previous session on a weaker global demand outlook.Brent futures rose 9 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $87.16 a barrel by 0130 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 4 cents to $81.29 a barrel. The two benchmarks fell more than 2 per cent in the prior session, paring gains after a six-session rally for Brent and a five-session rise for WTI, but were on track for weekly rises of around 4 per cent.The United States on Thursday said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ramp up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have stalled. "Watch this space for mo