By Cassie Werber and Daniel Huang
LONDON--Global oil prices rose Friday, underpinned by tensions
between Russia and the West, while U.S. crude futures continued to
slide.
Brent crude for September delivery was up 32 cents, or 0.3%, at
$107.39 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. Light, sweet
crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 39 cents, or
0.4%, at $101.68 a barrel.
"Ample supply as Libyan output ramps up pace has largely erased
the risk premium which saw Brent prices spike towards $116 a barrel
in June on the threat of sanctions imposed by the West on Russia
and ongoing fighting in Iraq," wrote Kash Kamal, an analyst at
Sucden Research, in a note to clients.
The continued flow of Iraqi oil and the return of Libyan output
have allowed the market to relax somewhat, locking Brent crude in a
range between $106.32 and $108.37 a barrel for the past week. "The
current market sentiment among investors remains broadly accepting
of recent rangebound trading," Mr. Kamal wrote.
But David Hufton of brokerage PVM warned that fear is still
bubbling under the surface. This may be why the Brent contract
doesn't seem to react to positive news, he said.
"China delivered its best flash manufacturing PMI for 18 months
yesterday, but it didn't feed through into oil prices," Mr. Hufton
said in a note.
Russia could provide the next shock in Europe, Mr. Hufton said.
European officials met Friday to discuss ratcheting up economic
pressure on Moscow for what they say is Russia's support for
militants in eastern Ukraine. Russia is the world's second-largest
oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia.
U.S. oil prices fell for a fourth session as traders focused on
weak demand for gasoline. Front-month August reformulated gasoline
blendstock, or RBOB, rose 1.35 cents, or 0.5%, to $2.8503 a
gallon.
August diesel rose 1.94 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.8903 a gallon.
Write to Cassie Werber at cassie.werber@wsj.com and Daniel Huang
at daniel.huang3@wsj.com
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