Brent crude seesaws but heads for 10 percent weekly gain | Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Brent crude seesawed, while U.S. crude fell on Friday after both contracts rallied to 2015 peaks the previous session, and turmoil in Yemen and the region limited losses.

Brent was on pace to post a double-digit percentage gain for the week, a second consecutive rise and the fourth in five weeks, lifted by the conflict in Yemen and the prospect that lower oil prices are starting to curb U.S. shale output.

U.S. crude will post a fifth straight weekly rise, up more than 8 percent. The big percentage jumps for U.S. and Brent crude would be the biggest in several years.

Brent June crude was steady at $63.98 a barrel at 1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 GMT), having swung from $62.95 to $64.50 after posting Brent’s 2015 high at $64.95 the day before.

U.S. May crude, set to expire on Tuesday, was down 81 cents at $55.90. It reached a 2015 peak at $57.42 on Thursday.

The futures contracts pared losses after Baker Hughes data showed U.S. oil drilling rigs fell for a record 19th straight week, although this week’s 26-rig drop was less than the loss of 42 last week.

“Futures markets are always forward-looking and as a result, the market has seen a focus shift away from rising stock levels … and toward production levelling where significant uncertainties lie ahead,” Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note.

Oil prices are trying to recover after plunging more than 50 percent from June 2014 amid a global supply glut.

Military units protecting Yemen’s Masila oilfields withdrew on Friday and handed over security responsibilities to local tribes, in a sign of the weakening grip of the Yemeni state over its land and resources.

While Yemen is not a major oil producer, the conflict raises concern about risks to supply from the region’s major exporters, especially neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Prices also drew support from traders closing out short positions, encouraged by strong technical factors, said Rob Montefusco, senior oil trader at Sucden Financial.

“Technically, Brent is looking in better shape at the moment,” he said.

Brent and U.S. crude pushed above their 100-day moving averages this week. Brent’s 50-day of $58.18 moved above its 100-day at $57.90 on Friday, a bullish move called a “golden cross” by chart watchers. That puts the 100-day average as a new major support level.

(Additional reporting by Himanshu Ojha and Alex Lawler in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by William Hardy, Gunna Dickson and Jonathan Oatis)

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