Oil Prices Push Up Again

Oil rose in thin, volatile trading last Friday, bouncing back from sharp mid-session losses as traders struggled to set a clear direction in a market buffeted by new euro zone concerns and mixed signals on demand.

Prices tumbled earlier in the day as the dollar rallied on news that Norway suspended a payment grant to Greece for failure to comply with commitments and a ratings downgrade by Fitch, just as concerns that Spanish regional elections at the weekend could result in bad bank news added to the euro’s losses.

But crude later reversed course to rise, causing the dollar to pare gains as the two markets took turns driving the inverse correlation that has been pronounced in recent weeks.

Brent crude for July delivery rose 97 cents to settle at $112.39 a barrel, bouncing off a low of $108.60 posted after sliding below the 100-day moving average of $109.76.

For the week, front-month Brent fell $1.44, or 1.27 per cent,

The expiring US June crude contract rose $1.05 to go off the board at $99.49 a barrel, after falling as low as $95.99. Despite the rally it ended the week down 16 cents.

The early slide failed to challenge the $94.63 low from May 6, where oil found at least a temporary floor after retreating from a 2-1/2 year peak of $114.83 on May 2.

The US July crude rose $1.17 to settle at $100.10, bouncing from its intraday low of $96.35.

Although diesel usage surged some 15 per cent in April, gasoline demand fell by 5 percent, the American Petroleum Institute said. And the number of highway miles driven fell by 1.4 per cent in March, the first decline in 13 months.

The threat to US oil infrastructure from flooding along the Mississippi River and other waterways in the region remained supportive, although only a small amount of refinery capacity had been affected as of Friday and major plants are now thought to be largely out of harm’s way.