By Christian Berthelsen
U.S. crude prices gained on Friday, after a session of choppy
trading, as investors assessed the potential impact of the U.S.
airstrikes in Iraq on global oil supplies.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 31 cents, or
0.3%, in price to settle at $97.65 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. The market traded in a range of $1.30 between
the day's highs and lows, turning negative for part of the session
before climbing back in the afternoon.
The global Brent crude-oil contract also seesawed, trading over
a range of $2.18 and at one point hitting a one-week high. Brent
crude for September delivery ended down 42 cents at $105.02 a
barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Andy Lebow, a trader at investment bank Jefferies, said some
market participants were placing bets on prices either rising or
falling, as they sought to assess the impact of the airstrikes and
how the market might interpret them.
U.S. jet fighters hit artillery being used by the Islamic State
militant group in northern Iraq on Friday.
There seemed to be little immediate impact on global supplies,
but if the Sunni Muslim extremists succeed in overrunning the
semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, it could show they
also have the ability to also push south through Baghdad and to
Iraq's main oil-producing region.
"It appears as though the oil market is back looking at the
geopolitics vis-à-vis Iraq," Mr. Lebow said. "The market is
uncertain on this."
Oil prices had jumped nearly 80 cents Thursday night after
President Barack Obama announced the strikes. But the market sold
back down early Friday. The amount of oil at risk from Kurdistan is
small in the global supply-demand balance, about 200,000 barrels a
day.
Also on Friday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries said production rose to its highest level in five months
in July, reflecting renewed output in Libya. And consumption data
provided a mixed picture, with China saying crude imports in July
rose 2% from June but remain down 9% from year-ago levels.
Front-month September gasoline futures fell 1.86 cents to
$2.7537 a gallon. September diesel lost 1.88 cents to $2.8769 a
gallon.
Write to Christian Berthelsen at
christian.berthelsen@wsj.com