U.S. oil futures were steady on Friday with little fresh news to drive trading, following gains in the two prior sessions. Prices remained above $70 a barrel, buoyed by strong global demand, a Gulf Coast shipping snag and concerns about the unresolved tension between the West and Iran.
Light sweet crude for August delivery rose 3 cents to settle at $70.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gasoline futures were up by less than a penny to close at $2.1276 per gallon.
Brent crude for August fell $1.87 to $68.08 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.
Oil prices rose Thursday - and again on Friday - as refineries along the Gulf Coast encountered some minor obstacles in the aftermath of an oil spill that disrupted ship traffic in a Louisiana waterway. Oil prices had climbed Wednesday after government data showed a smaller-than-expected build in domestic gasoline inventories.
World oil demand is expected to average close to 85 million barrels per day, though consumption is not growing as robustly as a year ago because of the slowing world economy.
In recent weeks, concerns about inflation and rising interest rates around the globe have contributed to a sell-off in metals and other commodities. Some analysts believe this could put downward pressure on energy prices, while others contend that the tight balance between supply and demand will keep a high floor underneath oil and refined products.
Supply disruptions in Iraq, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico have helped to support prices for the past year, as has the more recent diplomatic standoff between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear goals.
Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator, Javad Vaeidi, has rejected freezing uranium enrichment as a precondition for talks, but held out the possibility that negotiations on its nuclear program could result in such a moratorium - a stance Tehran has repeated in the previous weeks.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell by less than a penny to $1.9626 a gallon, while natural gas futures fell 21.3 cents to $6.226 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Light sweet crude for August delivery rose 3 cents to settle at $70.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gasoline futures were up by less than a penny to close at $2.1276 per gallon.
Brent crude for August fell $1.87 to $68.08 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.
Oil prices rose Thursday - and again on Friday - as refineries along the Gulf Coast encountered some minor obstacles in the aftermath of an oil spill that disrupted ship traffic in a Louisiana waterway. Oil prices had climbed Wednesday after government data showed a smaller-than-expected build in domestic gasoline inventories.
World oil demand is expected to average close to 85 million barrels per day, though consumption is not growing as robustly as a year ago because of the slowing world economy.
In recent weeks, concerns about inflation and rising interest rates around the globe have contributed to a sell-off in metals and other commodities. Some analysts believe this could put downward pressure on energy prices, while others contend that the tight balance between supply and demand will keep a high floor underneath oil and refined products.
Supply disruptions in Iraq, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico have helped to support prices for the past year, as has the more recent diplomatic standoff between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear goals.
Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator, Javad Vaeidi, has rejected freezing uranium enrichment as a precondition for talks, but held out the possibility that negotiations on its nuclear program could result in such a moratorium - a stance Tehran has repeated in the previous weeks.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell by less than a penny to $1.9626 a gallon, while natural gas futures fell 21.3 cents to $6.226 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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