President Joe Biden is now discouraging Israel from striking Iran’s oil facilities, one day after indicating the Jewish state was considering an attack.

Biden originally told reporters Thursday that Israel and the White House were “discussing” a strike.

His remarks came as concerns of escalated conflict in the region have grown all week and caused oil prices to spike above $78 into Friday.

Wrapping up a full week of gains, the cost of international benchmark Brent was priced at $78.09, up $0.47, around 4 p.m., while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate Crude had hit $74.47, up $0.76.

Both were set to gain more than 9% by close — the largest gain in one week since October 2022.

When pressed further on the possibility of a strike against Iran, Biden urged Israel to act with caution.

“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” the president said during a rare appearance in the White House daily press briefing.

He went on to say that he did not expect Israel to make a decision “immediately” due to the “high holidays.”

“We’re going to wait to see when they want to talk,” Biden told reporters, adding that the plan put together by the White House received support from the United Nations Security Council and other allies.

He went on to say that while Israelis have “every right to respond to the vicious attacks on them,” the nation must be “much more careful about dealing with civilian casualties.”

His remarks came after Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel on Tuesday night, in what the regime said was a response to the deaths of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly promised that Iran would pay for the attack. At the same time, Iranian officials said a retaliatory response would lead to “vast destruction,” per Reuters.

Experts have warned that a strike on Iran’s oil facilities could result in sky-high prices.

Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at Swedish bank SEB, told CNBC that it could cause the cost of oil to reach higher than $200 a barrel.

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“If … you really took out the oil installations in Iran, force down the exports by 2 million barrels, then the next question in the market will be what will happen now in the Strait of Hormuz? That, of course, would add a significant risk premium to oil,” Schieldrop told the outlet.

The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman, and around 20% of the world’s total oil exports travel through the checkpoint. The United States alone imports around 11% of its total crude through the strait.