NEW YORK: Brent crude oil rose by nearly $1 in choppy trading yesterday, recovering from a 13-month low as turmoil in Iraq and Libya kept concerns about potential supply disruptions in focus.
The sale of several Nigerian cargoes in the West African cash crude market also gave Brent prices a lift. US crude prices edged higher, paring earlier modest losses after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported crude oil inventories rose 1.4 million barrels last week, against expectations stocks would be lower.
The US crude oil stocks build included a 418,000-barrel increase at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for the US crude contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Ahead of the front-month September contract’s expiration on Thursday, Brent crude rose by $1.20 to $104.22 a barrel by 1822 GMT. The session low of $102.37 was the weakest price since
July 2013.
US crude rose 35 cents at $97.72 a barrel.
Reuters
