LONDON: Oil prices diverged on Wednesday with Brent falling on profit-taking but New York crude rising on bright data and a report that the United States has lifted a ban on exports.
Traders continued to track ongoing violence in crude producer Iraq, ahead of the latest weekly US oil inventories data.
Nearing midday in London, Brent crude for delivery in August fell 62 cents to $113.84 a barrel.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August rose 53 cents to $106.56 per barrel.
"Brent futures extended losses ... and retreated below $114 per barrel as investors were prompted into some profit taking following the strong rally in the past two weeks," said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou.
"However, the recent robust US macroeconomic indicators spread optimism and held the WTI contract fairly high.
"It seems that the escalating tensions and violence in Iraq continue to provide support to the oil market for the short-term," she added.
Investors are still monitoring the crisis in crude producer Iraq, despite fading fears that it could result in a major supply disruption.
Iraq violence had sent oil prices soaring late last week to their highest levels since September 2013.
Insurgents have captured swathes of Iraqi territory in a lightning offensive that began on June 9, but they have yet to directly threaten the key oil-producing region in the south.
"Unless we see any major disruption to Iraqi oil assets in the south, we aren't going to see further risk premium associated with the crisis," said Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore.
New York prices also climbed on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has "cleared the way for the first exports of unrefined American oil in nearly four decades".
Citing rulings that have not yet been announced, the newspaper said the Commerce Department has given two companies -- Pioneer Natural Resources and Enterprise Products Partners LP -- permission to ship a type of ultralight oil known as condensate for foreign buyers.
The shipments could begin as soon as August, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
"There have been some expectations for the ban on exports to be lifted and investors will now be watching to see if transportation links are up to mark to move supplies," added Chua.
Producers have long been clamouring for the US government to lift the ban on exports with crude stockpiles near record levels, but less-than-satisfactory transportation links could still hinder the outflow of supplies from storage hubs.
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