Brent crude rose toward $88 a barrel on Friday, recovering from the previous session's losses as efforts to end the Middle East conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained stalled, leaving traders focused on the risk of further escalation. Tankers are still moving oil out of the Persian Gulf, but vessels using the chokepoint continue to face threats and some have been transiting with transponders switched off. The U.S. says up to 9 million barrels per day are currently passing through the waterway. On the demand side, the IEA (International Energy Agency) cut its global oil demand outlook this week, saying prolonged conflict and higher prices are increasingly weighing on consumption. Even so, it expects global oil supply to fall by 4.3 million barrels per day, or about 4%, this year as renewed hostilities in the Middle East threaten to deepen the global oil market deficit.