VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Oil tumbled 5 percent on Friday, erasing the previous session's gains, as Yemen's conflict looked less likely to disrupt Middle East crude shipments and investors turned their focus to talks for a potential Iran nuclear deal that could put more supply on the market.

Oil prices fell more than $1 on Friday, after sharp gains in the prior session, as worries of a disruption to supplies due to Saudi Arabia-led air strikes in Yemen eased.

Oil settled up about 3 percent on Wednesday as a weak dollar, fighting in Yemen and speculative buying boosted crude prices in spite of U.S. inventories building to record highs for an 11th week.

Falling world oil prices will hurt countries across the Middle East unless Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, takes action to reverse the slump, Iran's deputy foreign minister told Reuters.

The United Nations Security Council imposed targeted sanctions on Friday on Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and two senior Houthi rebel leaders for threatening the peace and stability of the country and obstructing the political process.

Yemen will destabilise its economy if it delays reforms such as cuts to energy subsidies, the International Monetary Fund said in a report released after the government rolled back some fuel price rises in the face of political unrest.