Oil hovers near $100 on hopes of US recovery

Oil hovered near $100 a barrel on Monday February 10, 2013 on hopes that the U.S. economic recovery can be sustained despite January’s poor payrolls report.

United States Labor department reported that 113,000 jobs were cre¬ated in January, far below market expectations of 175,000 jobs. This followed a weak 75,000 jobs created in December.

Brent crude, used to set prices for international varieties of crude, fell 53 cents to $109.04 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in Lon¬don easing from a session high of $109.75, its loftiest since 2 January. US crude for March delivery was down 3 cents at $99.85, after rising to $100.46 earlier in the session, the highest since 27 December.

Oil jumped more than $2 on Friday February 7, 2014 as investors overlooked lower than expected US non-farm payroll data to focus on a frigid winter that has boosted oil products demand.

Brent prices could also be sup¬ported by tighter Forties supply this year as Britain’s biggest oilfield, Buz¬zard, will undergo a total nine weeks of maintenance in 2014, rather than the two weeks traders had expected.

Both the oil benchmarks ap¬peared overbought on technical charts, pointing to lower prices. In¬vestors were also treading cautiously amid risks in emerging economies. Easing geopolitical tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme weighed on oil prices as supply from the OPEC producer could rise if Teh¬ran reaches a final deal with world powers.

Iran and six world powers are due on 18 February to start a final round of talks aimed at reaching a broader diplomatic settlement with the Islamic state.