|
 Brent rose modestly after falling for two straight days.
But U.S. crude extended its downside after indications that the
country's oil rig count, a measure for future production, may start
rising soon.
A suicide bombing by Islamic State militants in Kuwait, which killed
25 people and wounded more than 200, raised fears about the security
of Middle East oil supplies and lent some support as well to crude.
Other acts of violence with varying impact on the market included a
terror attack in France; the shooting deaths of 28 people in
Tunisia, including Western tourists, and the killing of at least 145
civilians in northern Syria by Islamic State militants.
In Greece, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he saw no reason
for his government not to have a deal with its creditors by Saturday
as Athens worked toward an agreement that would help it avert a debt
default and stay in the euro zone.
A senior EU official said, however, Greece will probably be in
arrears with the IMF for a few days.
"If there is a resolution to the Greece problems, this market could
get a big boost," said Phil Flynn, analyst at the Price Futures
Group in Chicago.
Brent settled up 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $63.26 a barrel. For
the week, it rose 0.3 percent.
U.S. crude settled down 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $59.63. It was
down similarly for the week.
[to top of second column] |
Among refined oil products, gasoline rose 0.6 percent while
ultra-low sulfur diesel settled flat on short-covering after sharp
declines in recent sessions.
In Vienna, ahead of a June 30 deadline for a final deal between Iran
and world powers, major differences remained on key issues such as
sanctions relief and U.N. access to Iranian nuclear sites, senior
Western diplomat said.
On the data front, oil services company Baker Hughes said the U.S.
oil rig count, a measure of future production, fell by 3 this week.
It was the smallest drop in five weeks and a sign that the collapse
of U.S. drilling was coming to an end, with crude prices recovering
after a 60 percent slump between last June and March this year.
"We're bottoming out and should see an end to this drop in the
coming weeks," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at
New York-based Clipper Data, referring to the rig count.
(Additional reporting by Claire Milhench in London and Keith Wallis
in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Bernadette Baum and Steve
Orlofsky)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
