LONDON: Oil held steady around $107 a barrel on Friday, as plentiful supply countered any premium to prices caused by concern over conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Brent crude for September delivery traded 14 cents higher at $107.21 a barrel by 1020 GMT. The contract had closed 96 cents lower on Thursday.
US crude for September delivery was up 10 cents at $102.17 a barrel, after settling $1.05 lower.
The continuing conflicts, however, did little to push prices higher as global supplies remained good.
"There is ample prompt supply of crude oil, but the geopolitics in Ukraine, Gaza, Iraq and Libya is providing support," said Olivier Jakob, an analyst at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland. He added that poor refining margins in Europe pointed to slack demand in the region.
German business sentiment fell for a third consecutive month in July, suggesting firms in Europe's largest economy are worried about geopolitical crises.
In Libya, oil production has risen to 500,000 barrels per day, but there is no progress on reopening Brega oil port after an agreement to end a protest there, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corporation said.
Authorities in Gaza said Israeli forces shelled a shelter at a UN-run school on Thursday, killing at least 15 people as the Palestinian death toll in the conflict climbed higher than 760 and attempts at a truce remained elusive.
Members of the European Union on Thursday also considered proposals targeting state-owned Russian banks vital to Moscow's faltering economy in what would be the most serious sanctions so far over the Ukraine crisis.
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