Forexpros – Pros – Crude oil futures were down on Friday in a quiet, year-end session marked by ongoing fears that economic uncertainty will continue dampening energy demand in the coming year.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at USD99.03 a barrel, down 0.15%.
It earlier rose to a daily high of USD100.16 a barrel and struck a low of USD98.61
The dollar had strengthened earlier Friday, which sent investors snapping up other dollar-denominated assets and selling oil in the process, although the greenback has since tempered its advances.
Furthermore, fears that the European debt crisis will rage on in 2012 has market watchers worried Europe’s downturn may be a rough one, and the continent will need less crude and oil derivatives to grow.
Out of China, meanwhile, manufacturing data came in weaker than expected while in the U.S., crude oil inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels in the week ending Dec. 23, way more than expected.
Analysts were forecasting a 2.5 million barrel decline.
Fears continue to wane that Iran will make good on its threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, which would seriously crimp oil supply.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for February delivery were down 0.03% at USD107.97 a barrel, up USD8.94 on its U.S. counterpart.
The spread hovers slightly on the lower end between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical gap of trading around USD1.00.
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