Brent rises above $97

ICE Brent crude futures rose above $97 a barrel on Friday on lift from rising German and French business sentiment which boosted the euro to a two-month peak against the dollar while US oil ended a choppy session lower, stalling just above $89.
Brent's premium to US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $8.59, its highest since February 2009, as Europe's benchmark, boosted by strong emerging market demand, tight North Sea crude supplies and a trading firm's control of double-digit North Sea cargoes.
The oil complex was supported by news that German business morale jumped in January to its highest level in 20 years, according to the Munich-based Ifo economic institute. while French data also showed rising confidence. US crude oil prices slipped as the crude inventory rise reported on Thursday, the first in seven weeks, had investors concerned that more stock builds could be coming as deliveries delayed because of year-end tax issues start to arrive.
In London, ICE Brent crude for March rose 97 cents to $97.55 a barrel at 2:52 pm EST (1952 GMT), still on track for a weekly loss after reaching $99.20 last Friday, as the Brent February crude contract expired. US crude oil for March delivery fell 48 cents to settle at $89.11 a barrel, trading from $88.87 to $90.22. US crude posted a 2.65 percent loss for the week.
"A combined move with the weaker dollar and improving business confidence in Germany is supporting oil. On Thursday we saw a very strong support point... We could see a test of the upper level, which is $99.20 for Brent," said Thorbjorn Bak Jensen, an analyst at A/S Global Risk Management Ltd.
US gasoline and heating oil futures rose on Friday, despite rising inventories. The US heating oil profit margin, or crack spread, reached $22.54 a barrel, highest since January 20, 2009, when the profit margin reached $25.42. US crude prices had a sharp price retreat on Thursday as the US February contract expired, triggered by the government's report of inventory builds and concerns China may take more measures to cool stubborn inflation, resulting in slower growth in oil demand.
As the Brent/WTI spread soared to a near two-year high, four North Sea Brent oil and gas platforms, which shut down on Saturday, were expected to remain closed for several weeks, platform operator Shell said Friday. While shutting in significant natural gas production, but only 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil output, the news helped keep bullish sentiment for Brent intact.
Nigeria has raised the official selling price (OSP) for its competing benchmark Bonny Light and Qua Iboe crude oil grades in February to dated Brent plus $1.90 a barrel, up 15 cents from January, a trade source said on Friday. As the Brent/WTI soars, some analysts were cautioning about the potential for a correction. "The spread is starting to get rather stretched and when it does get rather stretched there is usually a sharp correction at some point," said Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC markets.