(Bloomberg) -- Oil edged lower after a choppy session in which traders weighed diplomatic progress in the Middle East against rising Russia-Ukraine tensions.

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West Texas Intermediate traded near $82 a barrel, taking this week's drop to almost 6%, while Brent closed below $88. Futures rose on Wednesday on a report that Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning an escalation in Ukraine, before reversing those gains after Iran's military said it reached a revenue-sharing agreement with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil has slipped this week on signs that a deal could be reached on Hormuz and after US economic sanctions spared Iran's trading partners from harsher measures. Still, prices have gained more than 40% this year after the six-month conflict crimped Persian Gulf energy supplies.

Tehran has repeatedly said an agreement on navigation would not equate to an immediate re-opening. Nevertheless, crude appears to be flowing from the Persian Gulf, with US President Donald Trump claiming that 10 million barrels of oil had exited Hormuz Tuesday, bolstering hopes that shipments through the critical waterway could be increasing.

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